Arthur Smith

Comedy ages quicker than tragedy, to the extent that we can't know if the 10 commandments may originally have been 10 hilarious one-liners.

Only the pun remains. The pun, beloved of Shakespeare, children and tabloid headline-writers, is normally eschewed in the modern, sophisticated circles in which I move.

The pun exists in a social and political void, caring nothing for the issues of its day, content merely to display itself in its small cleverness.

A savage review is much more entertaining for the reader than an admiring one; the little misanthrope in each of us relishes the rubbishing of someone else.

About every four years, someone says to me, 'I've got a friend who looks exactly like you.' What can you say to this?

It is more interesting to be compared to someone famous, because it lets you gauge what perceptions people have about your appearance.

It's the time of year when the literati give advice on what we should be reading on our summer holidays. These terrifying lists often leave me appalled at my own ignorance, but also suspicious about the pretension of their advocates.