Those who have known the famous are publicly debriefed of their memories, knowing as their own dusk falls that they will only be remembered for remembering someone else.

Definition of a classic: a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.

Alan Bennett

I was an only child. I lost both my parents. By the time I was twenty I was bald. I'm homosexual. In the way of circumstances and background to transcend I had everything an artist could possibly want. It was practically a blueprint. I was programmed to be a novelist or a playwright. But I'm not.

Alan Bennett

Life is rather like a tin of sardines, we're all of us looking for the key.

Alan Bennett