“Call it a clan call it a network call it a tribe call it a family: Whatever you call it whoever you are you need one.”

“Anthropology was the science that gave her the platform from which she surveyed, scolded and beamed at the world.”

“Parents however old they and we may grow to be serve among other things to shield us from a sense of our doom. As long as they are around we can avoid the fact of our mortality we can still be innocent children.”

“I have come to esteem history as a component of friendships. In my case at least friendships are not igneous but sedimentary.”

“Call it a clan call it a network call it a tribe call it a family: Whatever you call it whoever you are you need one.”

“New links must be forged as old ones rust.”

“Charity knew she had to begin looking for a job soon. Definitely tomorrow, or the next day. Or perhaps the day after that. Charity didn't believe in procrastination. She just needed to plan her strategy. She was sound asleep on the sofa when Lady Margaret got back from London.”

“Laughter is just like champagne -- only without the headache afterwards.”

“When you fall asleep after a big lunch you're really just saving up energy to work off all the calories later on.”

“Sir Humphrey looked like a sleepy old hippo -- and when he yawned in that big, big, hippopotamus way Charity couldn't help doing likewise.”

“Why does getting ahead always have to involve getting up early?”