“Having a date with someone other than your ex-wife after being a married man for more than twenty five years was an important occasion alright, but wearing a tie she bought with such strong emotional value attached to it was a form of cowardice, a subconscious reluctance to let go.”

“If you never persisted, you will never succeed.”

“Good Samaritan is only good when they think no one else will be the Good Samaritan.”

“The face of self-pity was universally understood.”

“A lot of people travel because they are unhappy, but travelling does not necessary makes one happier. Sometimes it exacerbates the unhappiness, the loneliness.”

“Are there moments when our brains are not exercising?” I questioned. “That would be almost like being brain dead...”

“I am a loser in my own plot, but I might be the hero in someone else's plot.”

“Unexpected gifts were better accepted when they were presented by total strangers, I had learnt.”

“There was nothing so special about First Class, apart from the amount of uncalled for, almost disturbing, attention I got from the various six-feet tall heavily made up air hostesses, that I would come back for more given the steep price tag.”

“Partying and dancing have never been my thing, but drinking I could do with reasonable familiarity and skills. I decided to begin there.”

“I love America for its bourgeois comfort. If I was as heavily in debt as they are, I wouldn't be drinking tea or coffee anywhere. I would be sipping tap water from an old bottle and serving others tea or coffee in a cafe somewhere.”