Quotes by Mariella Frostrup

I have a very childish attitude to books - a very non-analytic enthusiasm... like Alice falling down the chute.

Quite honestly, if we do manage to destroy the planet with our devil-may-care attitude to natural resources, Id suggest we leave, as a dossier in our defence, the collected letters to agony aunts and uncles down the generations. It would certainly prove that we werent all bad!

Romantic comedies seem to take over where the fairytales of childhood left off, feeding our dreams of a soulmate; though, sadly, the Hollywood endings prove quite elusive in the real world.

For most of us, when our dreams - I use the word with reservations - came true, and marriage and motherhood became a reality, the romcoms, like horoscopes, swiftly lost their allure.

Since so many romantic comedies vary little in their storyline, the success or failure of such movies depends largely on whether we believe in the relationship of the protagonists.

I hate the thought of my children being glued to a screen. Children only play on computers all day because their parents let them.

Ive been accused of riding roughshod over others emotions, and I admit, when I feel a friend is being over-indulgent, my patience is in short supply.

For many young women, the dream of independence and a home of their own is a tantalising goal, while a lifetime devoted solely to catering for another persons needs would be hard to countenance.

I recognise my old self in a lot of the letters I get from single women who are unrealistic about what they want.

We invest less in our friendships and expect more of friends than any other relationship. We spend days working out where to book for a romantic dinner, weeks wondering how to celebrate a partner or parents birthday, and seconds forgetting a friends important anniversary.

There are many ways to make the most of your time on the planet, and propagation of the species is just one of them. If youre convinced that its the key to your happiness, there are routes open to you, whether with the help of modern medical science, marrying into a readymade one, or through fostering and adoption.

When I last looked, there werent queues of eager guys under 40 hanging outside single ladies doors begging them to give up work and have their babies. It takes two to tango and the same number, without medical help, to make a child.

Having a baby is a disaster for your career. I dont think theres any sympathy.

Contrary to popular mythology, the best and most durable relationships are based not on vulnerability or passion but on a conjugation of positive attributes, a meeting of mind, body and soul that is all the more powerful as it is not weighed down with neediness and unreasonable expectation.

Translating any insights I have for strangers lives into positive action in my own has proved a challenge. While Ive learned a lot about what everyone else is thinking, I fail miserably to use such knowledge in my private relationships.

The sight of parents, children and grandparents all descending on a tented field to enjoy the pleasure of ideas and books renews my faith in humanity.

Every friendship goes through ups and downs. Dysfunctional patterns set in external situations cause internal friction you grow apart and then bounce back together.

Sustaining true friendship is a lot more challenging than we give it credit for.

In romance, we feel the need to zoom in and expound on our partners foibles in intimate detail; in friendship, we tend to do the opposite, avoiding confrontation through fear, lethargy or both.

Like cars, every relationship requires a bit of an occasional service, and fine-tuning should be compulsory.