The inside of a house or apartment after decluttering has much in common with a Shinto shrine... a place where there are no unnecessary things, and our thoughts become clear.

The best way to find out what we really need is to get rid of what we don't. Quests to faraway places or shopping sprees are no longer necessary. All you have to do is eliminate what you don't need by confronting each of your possessions properly.

Once you learn to choose your belongings properly, you will be left with only the amount that fits perfectly in the space you own.

For kids, it's best to teach them how to fold their clothes first. Kids will be able to fold their clothes at about three years old. You don't want to teach them how to put away toys first because it's difficult. Clothes are something kids wear every day, so it's easy for them to have a sense about their belongings.

Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself.

The Cardturner,' while it has bridge in it, you certainly don't need to know how to play bridge to read it. It's basically a book about relationships - between Alton and his great-uncle, and Alton and his friends, and how it changes his life.

We British and Americans have never been conquered and occupied by the Germans, or forced to make the choice between defiance and collaboration, or haunted by the choices, evasions and moral ambiguities that only a defeated and occupied country can feel.

A lot of people have experienced a relationship betrayal, even if it was when they were 16 and with their first love.