Mariella Frostrup

“The point of the feminist movement wasn't simply to set our underwear on fire and muscle into small spaces in the male-dominated workplace, but to create a world where the contribution of both sexes was equally valued and no one's worth was judged on their take-home salary.”

“With the Internet, we can communicate instantly across the globe, but the net also makes it possible for us to shrink ever further into our own skins - a state of being that neither suits the human temperament nor provides ground for further growth.”

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

“It's so much easier to count our disadvantages than tot up the mitigating circumstances that generally outweigh the despair.”

“I have had demanding jobs since I was 18 years old. I have had two sick days in all my working life.”

“If I ever write a book, it will be called 'Bottle Blonde.'”

“Seeing the world differently is one of the toughest incompatibilities to reconcile in a relationship.”

“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 couldn't choose a favourite author, but two contemporary writers who have never disappointed me are Tim Winton and Alice Munro.”

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

“We're naturally programmed to endure a muddle of emotions as we leave childhood behind.”

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

“I feel lucky that I had my children late. Not that I would advise it in any shape or form. But I know friends who had children when they were young, struggled with feeling trapped. I can honestly say I've never once resented the fact that I couldn't go out because of my kids.”

“Fridays are always movie night at our flat in Kensington, West London.”

“I used to go out with someone who was a really great diver, and we used to go to all the great dive spots all over the globe - although I would spend most of my time crying because I was often too scared to go into the water. But once I was in the water, I loved it.”

“Many new lovers and spouses struggle to reconcile themselves with their partners' relationship history, but it's an insecurity I left behind in my 20s.”

“Television executives only commission something that somebody else has already commissioned that's doing well on another station - they're afraid of expecting an audience to concentrate for longer than three minutes on any particular item.”

“In my child's-eye view, whenever I was exposed to pain, it meant that my mother had let me down.”

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

“I was brought up in the countryside in Ireland and would go bonkers if I couldn't escape the city. I like to wake and hear birds tweeting, not the low drone of traffic.”