‘Why don’t I have a mobile, much less an iPhone or a BlackBerry? While I can afford the economic expense, I cannot afford the emotional expense when it doesn’t work’

‘I found myself in the perverse position of praying, in defiance of my politics, that healthcare legislation would get bogged down. Selfish? Hell, yes!’

‘Every time I talk to my brother, I wonder if it is for the last time...He is actually eating himself to death’

‘The idea that diligent citizens have been putting away money for their retirement with National Insurance contributions is a myth’