Pat Robertson, the televangelist, who has died at 93, is notable not just because he turned God into a cash machine. But more damagingly he spearheaded the intrusion of religion into the Republican Party and US politics, which has led to the present day furore over abortion, gay rights and racism. He saw Trump as God’s plan for the USA and as such no secular election could overthrow him.

  He is blamed for Newt Gingrich’s rise in the 1990s and the GOP’s scorched-earth political warfare backed up by conspiratorial thinking about the evil liberal cabal they were fighting against. He later blamed cultural liberalism for 9/11 and abortion policy for Hurricane Katrina.

  He was born 22 March 1930 in Lexington, Virginia, no birth time, with a militant Christian mother Gladys who told him God had a plan for him. He racketed around, married ten weeks before the first child was born, skipped military service in Korea, failed the bar exam and was ecstatically ‘saved’ from depression by a Baptist missionary. His wife thought he was drunk. On the orders of the Lord he sold the family furniture, abandoned his eight months pregnant wife, to attend a religious camp in Canada. His wife put his actions down to his being a “religious nut” with “schizoid tendencies”. But she remained with him.

  He founded the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the fifth largest cable TV programme network system in the US. Various financial criticisms loomed thereafter including about his diamond mine in the Congo, none of which dented his popularity amongst the faithful. After a failed run for the presidency he became a GOP kingmaker.

  Latterly he was ranting and raving with fundamentalist fervour about feminists  being “anti-family lesbians”, gays “demonic” and non-Christians “termites” and predicted the world would end in 1982 or 2007.

  He was a Sun Aries with Uranus Venus conjunct in Aries on the focal point of a T Square to Pluto opposition Saturn (Moon) in Capricorn. A focal point Uranus can be a trailblazer and catalyst for change though not always for the better. Determined to upset the status quo it produces an aggressive reformer.

  He also had a Mutable T Square of a publicity-attracting Mars in Pisces opposition Neptune squaring onto an over confident Jupiter in Gemini.

  The combination of the depressive Saturn Pluto and the pumped-up Jupiter would give him a precarious mental balance.

  The other factor in his chart is the Taurus North Node which usually brings wrangles over money throughout life as well as issues around sexuality.

  He certainly was karmically intertwined with the Republican Party – or if you prefer, was destined to be connected.  The 12 October 1853 GOP chart has its Pluto conjunct his North Node and his Jupiter is conjunct their North Node. They gave him gravitas and kept the money rolling in and he gave them a recipe for winning.

  It is less obvious why (astrologically speaking) he became the spark which sent the USA down the raging, holier-than-thou (maybe) anti-liberal road which peaked with Trump. When Reagan moved into the White House which was around the time of religious politics becoming embedded (I think) Pluto was then in the final decan of Libra. Thus it was the marker for the final quarter of the Pluto cycle before it slide towards the Return this year.

  Depending on which side of the argument you are, this could be an indication of the USA in decline, slowly subsiding  into brain mush before the necessary reconstruction as Pluto moves into enlightened Aquarius. Though the demented prayer-lobby would no doubt see the advancing liberal movements as the decline rather than the reverse.

  It has always seemed to me an extreme oddity having abortion and gay rights etc centre foreground in a country that holds itself up as a liberal democracy.

  Maybe Pat Robertson’s passing is a sign?  

Another criminal charge, another money-grabbing opportunity. Trump is raking in yet more campaign funds which continually spike every time another indictment against him is filed. Sigh. This recent charge sheet about Mar-a-Lago classified documents will list wilful retention of national defense secrets, obstruction of justice and conspiracy.  The eternally hopeful say this is the first time he has faced federal criminal charges, all previous legal embarrassments being in state courts, and he could face years in prison. He will appear for an arraignment on Tuesday at 3 p.m in Miami. Cynics point to his Houdini escape record and murmur unhappily that Florida would not be the first choice to guarantee justice will be dispensed.

   There are other pending legal bear-traps for him including hush money payments to Stormy Daniels; and the biggie which is Georgia and  Trump’s efforts to overturn the election there with charges perhaps coming this summer.

  Assuming his birth time is not out by hours then he has a lucky Jupiter midpoint being triggered at the moment until this coming Wednesday and a run of good fortune and morale-boosts from the middle of this November to early next April.

  He does have the poleaxing, trapped Solar Arc Mars square his Pluto in place throughout this year, which will put pressure on him. In addition to his Solar Arc Pluto square his Saturn which is gloom-inducing and indicates tough conditions.

   Next year he has a run of infuriating, high-tension and aggravating influences picking up from April, through May and exploding in July with a shock-setback as tr Uranus squares his Mars. Just before the election his Progressed Venus will square his Saturn making him feel unloved and in November 2024 his Progressed Moon will square his Pluto – neither of which suggest a great triumph. Though he does have tr Jupiter moving across his 10^th house from May 2024 for a year or so which will keep his profile high.

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Francoise Gilot, a prolific and acclaimed artist, whose talent was underplayed because of her relationship with Pablo Picasso, has died at 101. Aged 21 in occupied Paris during WW11 she met Picasso, forty years her senior, while he was still married to the Russian dancer Olga Khokhlova and she replaced Doris Maar as his lover and muse. She remained with him for ten years, produced two children, and was the only one of his many mistresses to dump him, saying she loved him but left to prevent herself being destroyed.

   In later years she wrote a memoir about her time with Picasso including descriptions of his physical and emotional abuse. He sued to try to stop publication, though it went on to sell a million. He cut off contact with her and the two children, and tried to stop galleries exhibiting her work. As she was leaving Picasso sneered at her: “You imagine people will be interested in you?” They won’t ever, really, just for yourself. Even if you think people like you, it will only be a kind of curiosity they will have about a person whose life has touched mine so intimately.”

  She eventually moved to the US, marrying twice – including to the US polio vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk.

  Born 26 November 1921 1am Neuilly sur Seine, France, she had a quick-witted 3^rd house Sagittarius Sun which was in an independent-minded square to Uranus. Her influential and controlling 10^th house Pluto was in a creative Water Grand Trine to Uranus and Venus Mercury in Scorpio; and her Pluto was also in a fearsome square to Saturn Mars Jupiter and widely square Moon in Libra. She was a curious mix of masochistic and submissive with a suppressed Pluto square Mars – as well as freedom-loving. As she matured and empowered herself quite a force to be reckoned with.  Her Venus Mercury were square Neptune.

Picasso, 25 October 1881 11.15 pm Malaga, Spain,  had a Sagittarius Moon to chime with her Sun, and his Scorpio Sun resonated with her Venus.  But he had a heavyweight, ultra-stubborn chart with a stellium in Taurus in his 10^th stretching from Saturn Neptune to a pushily-confident Jupiter Pluto conjunction. His Saturn Neptune was trine Uranus and sextile a 12^th house Mars in Cancer.

 Her need not be be bullied and ultimately to stay in control Pluto clashed with his Mars so no surprises there was abuse in their relationship. His Midheaven, Saturn, Neptune fell in her 8^th so there would be a deep connection, not easy but initially beyond her conscious power to resist or understand.

  Their relationship chart had a composite New Moon which suggest a connection where each felt more whole when they were together; but the composite Sun was in a power-struggling quincunx to Pluto.  The synastry is more descriptive of their love hate match.

  Two of his other mistresses had fairly similar placings. Doris Maar, 22 November 1907 2.30am Paris and Marie Therese Walter, 13 July 1909 12 noon Le Perreux sur Marne.  

  Both of them had marked Mars Pluto aspects in their charts – used to being dominated and bullied since childhood and unable to escape the old pattern. Both of them had Piscasso’s Taurus stellium falling in their respective 8^th houses so an even more anchored-in-the-unconscious bond than Gilot’s.

  Maar had a Fixed Scorpio Sun square Mars in Aquarius which was overwhelmed by his pushy Jupiter Pluto in Taurus; and his Mars fell in her 10^th was conjunct her Neptune and opposition her Uranus for a raggedy interface.

 Walter was a Sun Cancer trine Mars with her Mars square Pluto; and a Sun opposition Uranus square Saturn in Aries – highly-strung, low in self-esteem.

  Two things would be a saving grace for Gilot – one was her maverick Mutable Sun square Uranus, which disliked compromise. The other was her Pluto in the 10^th, hint of a possessive and controlling mother which would initially make it easy for her to slot into the same kind of submissive relationship but as she matured she would turn it round and become more resistant to being tramped under foot and used as a pawn.  

William Blake, the 19^th century visionary writer and artist is such an influential giant in literary and artistic circles it is astonishing he was regarded so negatively during his life. One review of his illustrations called them a display of “nonsense, unintelligibleness and egregious vanity.” His obituary in the Literary Chronicle described him as “one of those ingenious persons … whose eccentricities were still more remarkable than their professional abilities.” Since his death, his influence and stature have risen to establish him amongst the greats.

  He was born 28 November 1757 7.45pm (from memory) London, was home educated, with the Bible having a profound influence on him, began writing at an early age, claiming to have had his first vision, of a tree full of angels when he was 10. His visions had a lasting effect on his art and writings. He trained as an engraver and later produced his own illustrations.

 He was an enthusiastic Sun Jupiter in Sagittarius in the 5^th house on this birth time. Though with a life filled with visions I’d have expected a stronger 8^th house so the timing may be out. His Jupiter would give him the vision, ideals and enthusiasm to keep going even in the face of little appreciation.  What may have held him back in his lifetime was an afflicted Mars in Leo which was conjunct Neptune, trine Pluto, opposition Saturn and on the focal point of a Yod inconjunct Uranus sextile Venus in Capricorn.

  Mars in Leo is flamboyant but blocked by the Saturn opposition it would not be ego-supportive. Mars Pluto tends to accompany a lifetime of frustrations, milder since in trine than a hard aspect, but still in operation. A Yod focal point Mars can be self-defeating and being out-of-tune with himself, he’d also present an awkward face to his environment.  

  His Leo North Node does point to him being a trailblazer but looking to his harmonics to explore why he made so little headway in his life he did have an exceptionally strong 8^th Harmonic –

8: A fated number. “Karmic debt”. Soul wounds, bad luck or loss may follow this number, which also gives an abundance of strength and stubbornness in the face of difficulties. The road to success is often bumpy and hard, and if it comes easy, or at all, it will not necessarily bring happiness.

Notable also are his 20th harmonic and 13th.

  20: A major upheaval that leads to an awakening which changes the ambitions, ideals, goals or plans for one’s life. Not a good material number, but is considered good for spiritual development. Delays and obstacles.

13: Upheaval, change and rebirth. This number is associated with exploration, genius and breaking with the orthodox. It warns against the unknown and the unexpected. It requires adaptation to change to be successful.

 He also had marked leaving-a-legacy, immortality 17H; a creative 5H; and global-name 22^nd.

[Interesting, not the chart I would have expected with such a raging Mars – and I would question the birth time.]

“To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.”

― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

“He who kisses joy as it flies by will live in eternity’s sunrise.”

― William Blake

“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.”

― William Blake

“I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe;

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I water’d it in fears,

Night & morning with my tears;

And I sunnéd it with smiles

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,

Till it bore an apple bright;

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole,

When the night had veil’d the pole:

In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree.”

― William Blake, Songs of Experience

 Golf enthusiasts are outraged and scathing about the PGA selling out to the Saudi Investment Fund for a reputed $3 billion and merging with the breakaway LIV Golf whom until recently they were castigating as renegade mercenaries complicit in the legitimising of a bloodthirsty Saudi regime. The PGA bashed the Saudis constantly, citing their human rights abuses, execution of gays, the Jamal Khashoggi murder, and how they they bankrolled 9/11. And now they have been bought. Donald Trump has hailed it as a “big, beautiful and glamorous deal”.

   This latest move underscores how Saudi Arabia has muscled into global sports through its use of oil-funded state finances. There are reports they are seeking to lure top footballers and already own Premier League side Newcastle United in England.

  Sportswashing is only a small segment of the push by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to become a global lynchpin – doing deals with Israel and Qatar, bringing Assad in from the cold, cooling tensions with Iran, repairing relations with the USA, hosting Zelensky at the Jeddah Arab League amid friction between Riyadh and Moscow over oil production cuts. And cosying up to China, signing a crude oil deal with them. 

  There is no doubt MbS has made a difference since taking over in 2017. In 2022 Saudi Arabia was recorded as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, outperforming China, India, Indonesia and South Korea, as well as the struggling G7 and other major emerging economies. Though time will tell whether his over confidence will trip up with his plans for a trillion-dollar zero-carbon desert city of the future called Neom, opening 2045. It will include powerful surveillance technology provided by China – an Orwellian nightmare.

   Saudi Arabia, 15 January 1902, has come through the transformational tr Pluto conjunct its Sun Jupiter in Capricorn in 2020/21 and emerged in good economic shape though with a worsening humanitarian record. Tr Neptune conjunct the Pisces Moon this year suggests the cause of women will not be furthered. Where the country runs into catastrophic problems will be around 2029/30 as the Solar Arc Mars is conjunct Pluto and tr Pluto is conjunct the Mars – high-risk, trapped.

  Mohammed bin Salman, 31 August 1985, a super-ambitious Sun Virgo trine Neptune sextile Pluto, also has a control-freak, pushily confident Pluto on the point of a Fixed T Square to Jupiter opposition Venus. Stubborn, self-assured, assumes rules don’t apply to him.

  Not everything in his kingdom will be plain sailing since he has tr Uranus upending his Mars and Mercury in Leo square Saturn in Scorpio from now through this July/August, on and off into 2024 – which will be accident-prone, aggravating, and may prompt him into reckless decisions.  He also has a couple of unhelpful Solar Arcs approaching, His SA Mars is square his Neptune this year and SA Saturn conjunct his Neptune in 2024. His Neptune is visionary, fuels his megalomania, but may trip him up through the next two years.

  Back in the land of the fairways – golfer Greg Norman who was castigated for heading LIV when it launched appears not to be involved in this merger which fits with unhappy experiences littering his chart see previous post  13 February 2023.

  PGA Golf, 2 December 1929, fittingly enough a sporty Sagittarius with Sun conjunct Mars and Mercury opposition Jupiter square Neptune in Virgo – is looking less than enthusiastic this year and next with tr Saturn moving round its Mutable T Square. With Solar Arc Neptune conjunct its Sun Mars in 18 months and Solar Arc Saturn conjunct its Uranus in 2025 alongside tr Neptune square its Saturn. Into a swamp basically.

Add On: Jay Monahan, the PGA chief who brokered the deal, has faced criticism of being a hypocrite and may not survive players’ anger. Born 7 May 1970, he’s a stubborn, money-minded Sun, Saturn, Mercury in Taurus. He’s looking upbeat with tr Pluto square his Jupiter this year into 2024 but is running into a deadlock or a cul-de-sac in 2024 with his Solar Arc Pluto opposition his Sun.

Golfer  Rory McIlroy, 4 May 1989, whose moral stance against the Saudi LIV which allegedly cost him $300 million, is another Sun Taurus. He’s looking emotionally on edge with tr Uranus conjunct his Venus in Taurus at the moment as well as a career-setback and aggravating Jupiter/Saturn midpoint upset.  But he will forge ahead successfully in 2024/25.

A dam in South Ukraine has been sabotaged flooding nearby towns and potentially jeopardising the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which depends on cooling water to run emergency diesel generators. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian troops of blowing up the plant “from inside” at 02:50 local time, while Moscow claims it was a “deliberate act of sabotage” by Kyiv. The BBC said it has not been able to verify either claim.

  The EU described it as a war crime and “a new sign of escalation, bringing the horrific and barbaric nature of Russian aggression against Ukraine to unprecedented levels.”

  The Ukraine 1991 chart, 24 August 1991 2.31pm Kiev, has the panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition Mars running throughout this year until February 2024. And the tough-slog, discouraging tr Pluto conjunct Saturn throughout 2023/24. There is a sign of cheer from June 2024 onwards which might bring some relief. Though the hostility with Russia will run on till late 2025 – which is hardly surprising, but whether that means the battle goes on or is the aftermath is not clear.

  Volodoymyr Zelensky, 25 January 1978 2pm Krivoj Rog,  never looked to be contented or in a progressive phase this year or next with tr Pluto in Aquarius opposition his Mars until December 2024 – which is high-risk, trapped, frustrating. Over-hopeful plans look undermined this year with tr Neptune square his Jupiter – and in many ways 2025 looks undermined as well and blocked with immense challenges running into 2026.  Which could mean a variety of outcomes – one of which is, when it all shakes down somehow, he may collapse in a heap or face a Churchill moment after WW11.

  Putin is facing an even more critical point in his destiny with his 4^th Term chart, 7 May 2018, now entering its most dangerous and most unstable phase as the Solar Arc Pluto closes the conjunction to the Mars to exact within weeks and in effect for several months – which could coincide with desperate, brutal retaliation; as well as tr Pluto square the Midheaven which can damage reputation and bring the house of cards tumbling down if not immediately then within the next eighteen months. Plus the topple-off-perch tr Pluto returning to square the Uranus from the middle of this month, on and off into and through 2024. Somewhere along that trajectory he will go – though there is no saying he won’t be replaced by a hardliner.

 Zelensky’s Term chart, 20 May 2019 10am Kiev, with its Mercury Sun in Taurus conjunct Algol is facing some disappointment this year and most pressure come 2025.

  The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, 1 April 1980, will face its greatest period of turbulence in 2024/25.

And so it goes on.

Princess Eugenie has announced the birth of her second child, another boy, named Ernest. who arrived on 30 May at 8.49am in London. He is going to be a mover and shaker with a power-packed chart with a flamboyant Mars in Leo in his 1^st house in an ultra-determined opposition to Pluto in his 7^th making his relationships and social interactions intense, all squaring onto a lucky, indulgent and acquisitive Jupiter conjunct North Node in Taurus in his 10^th. He won’t fail for want of trying.  His friendly 11^th house Gemini Sun does square an 8^th house Saturn, hinting at a discouraging and disheartening grandfather.

  His 4^th house Libra Moon is highlighted and not all in an easy way. It is trine his Sun and Pluto, forming an Air Grand Trine, making him emotionally detached and that forms onto a Kite with Pluto opposition Mars – putting his loud and colourful  Mars in Leo in the driving seat. His Moon is also on the point of a Yod inconjunct Saturn and Jupiter North Node – so he will be fairly disorganised emotionally, needing through life to build himself stronger emotional foundations.

  His Gemini Sun chimes with his father’s Venus in Gemini and his mother’s Moon, Venus, Mars in Aquarius and Aries Sun.

  His brother August, 9 February 2021 8.55am, has an Aquarius stellium in his 11^th house of Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn with a rebellious Mars Uranus in Taurus in his 1^st plus a secretive and intense Moon Pluto in Capricorn.

  They will be a fair handful.

[I don’t understand the Royal pecking order. I read that his birth pushes Prince Edward further down the list of succession. Not that it matters. But why Andrew’s children’s children should have a higher rating than Edward seems odd. ]

India’s worst train crash this century, with three trains colliding due to signal failure, has left nearly 300 dead and almost 1000 injured. This kind of tragedy is not as commonplace as it once was with heavy government investment in modernization in recent years which cut rails deaths to zero in the two years up to 2021, a staggering improvement on what went before.

  The crash happened on 2 June 2023 at 7pm in Odisha state when the massively strong and can-be-high-risk Mars opposition Pluto square Jupiter North Node was still in place. Jupiter on the point of the T square to that fairly brutal opposition was clearly in its expand-the-negative mode. There was a Water Grand Trine of Neptune in Pisces on the IC trine a hidden Venus in Cancer in the 8^th trine a Scorpio Moon on the cusp of the 12^th – bringing an upswelling of intense emotion.  

 And the recent May 5 Scorpio Lunar Eclipse located to this region has Mars conjunct the Descendant hinting at a shock or accident of sorts. The 20 April 2023 Solar Eclipse had an undermining/confused Neptune on the Midheaven.

  Often when there is a major natural or man-made disaster it is a precursor or a parallel to a significant shift in the country’s destiny. A synchronous happening.

  The India independence chart for 15 August 1947 does have tr Uranus aiming to square the 4^th house Leo Sun within a few days, on and off into 2024 which does suggest a shake-up phase of forced change ahead. Not that India will be the exception to the rule since everywhere else globally is creaking and groaning through the next three years.

  What always intrigues me is the earlier India chart of 1 January 1877 which is of the first unified India when Victoria took over as Empress, a reminder of the old colonial Raj that India would prefer to forget. That chart flagged up the disastrous Gujarat earthquake of 26 January 2001 which killed 20,000 and the Bhopal chemical disaster of 1984 more clearly than the later 1947 independence chart. Why that should be the case I have no idea, given the 1947 partition. The 1984 Bhopal disaster came hot on the heels of Indira Gandhi’s assassination and the Sikh massacre which followed.  

The epitome of English upper class chic and light-hearted devil-may-care wit, Noel Coward grew up in relative poverty and left school at nine to become a child performer. Prolific and versatile, he exuded effortless charm, acid wit and lauded a life of dilettante indulgence, while working like a Trojan writing 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his plays such as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter, and Blithe Spirit, are still in the regular theatre repertoire. He also became renowned as a composer, director, actor, and singer.

  A new documentary ‘Mad about the Boy’ rollics through his life as he became a theatrical celebrity and a scandalous figure in the 1920s, a closet homosexual when it was never publicly acknowledged, having an affair it is thought with Prince George, Duke of Kent (Princess Alexandra’s bi-sexual father) – and working flat out. During WW11 he volunteered for the British propaganda war office. His career dipped and rose again as his resilience came to the rescue, pushing his talents out onto the public stage. He died in 1973.

  Coward was born 16 December 1899 2.30am Teddington, England, and had a singular, see-saw chart, which would constantly pull him between opposites, and he would struggle to find a balance. He had a quick-witted and communicative 3^rd house Sagittarius Sun conjunct a know-it-it-all and hard-working Saturn. His Saturn in Sagittarius was in a disciplined conjunction to Mars in Capricorn.  He also had a mischievous, outspoken Uranus and Mercury in Sagittarius and Jupiter in Scorpio in his financial 2^nd so he’d be good at attracting money and spending it.  All his Sagittarius planets in varying measure were opposition a Gemini Moon conjunct Pluto and Neptune in Gemini. A whirlwind Mutable chart, constantly on the go, multi-tasking, always searching.

  He would constantly wobble from one extreme to the other and search for AN Other to bring him fulfilment. Which finally came in the form of Graham Payn, a small time South African singer/actor, who was his life partner for three decades before he died and after his death took on the running of his estate.  Payn, 25 April 1918, had his Taurus Sun Mercury in Coward’s 7^th house of relationships which is ideal; and Payn’s North Node in Sagittarius was conjunct Coward’s Sun – so Coward was his destiny. Payn’s Venus was in Coward’s 5^th house of enjoyment and romance and squared Coward’s key oppositions so giving a balance to the wobbly see-saw.  Payn’s Saturn Neptune in Coward’s 10^th hints at his executor role after his death.

  What is of passing interest is that Coward’s chart has strong similarities to that of King George V1 (Queen Elizabeth’s father), 14 December 1895 3.05am.  He also had a 3^rd house Sagittarius Sun opposition the signature Neptune Pluto in Gemini of that generation, in his case in his 8^th.  George was weighted down by four Scorpio planets and that plus the trapped 8^th house emphasis would make him more introverted. But he clearly had a bright streak that was yearning to be let loose.

Noel Coward Quotes:

‘A perfect martini should be made by filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy.’

‘Work hard, do the best you can, don’t ever lose faith in yourself and take no notice of what other people say about you.’

‘It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.’

‘Familiarity breeds contempt, but without a little familiarity it’s impossible to breed anything.’

‘Consider the public. Never fear it nor despise it. Coax it, charm it, interest it, stimulate it, shock it now and then if you must, make it laugh, make it cry, but above all never, never, never bore the living hell out of it.’

‘Why do I drink Champagne for breakfast? Doesn’t everyone?’

‘Just say the lines and don’t trip over the furniture.’

‘People are wrong when they say opera is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what’s wrong with it.’

‘We have no reliable guarantee that the afterlife will be any less exasperating than this one, have we?’

‘Wit ought to be a glorious treat like caviar; never spread it about like marmalade.’

‘If he (Peter O’Toole) had been any prettier it would have been Florence of Arabia.’

Pic: Allan Warren