Thomas Hardy

Fear is the mother of foresight.

It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.

Like the British Constitution, she owes her success in practice to her inconsistencies in principle.

The splendid empire of Charles the Fifth was erected upon the grave of liberty.

I'd date someone younger or older; age doesn't matter to me. Or looks, really - it's all about maturity.

Recently, I was in Bernalda, my dad's ancestral home town in Italy. He has just refurbished a palazzo and turned it into a hotel, so we had my sister's wedding there. It was beautiful.