The mates you serve with are like family and you would do anything for them. In battle, nothing else matters than completing the mission and doing your utmost to bring everyone home.

In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.

Marriage takes perseverance and determination. There are always opportunities to walk away from marriage but I feel very strongly that you have a responsibility once you start a family.

… besides love, independence of thought is the greatest gift an adult can give a child.

Well the circumstances certainly cleared the smoke from my cocky cockpit over the past 12 months and, as I’ve come to terms with the reality of being a single father, it also dawned on me that this enigmatic woman of my dreams had already arrived. The ‘epiphany’ was that she’s not a woman at all but a little girl: my daughter. Here, finally, is the person I can love wildly, unconditionally and forever. It will never go away. My daughter will never walk out or hang up on me (I hope), and I know with a certitude akin to breathing that I will never do so to her.

For the first time I saw my life not as a one-night stand but a continuum, where I owed the generation that followed protection and respect.

Behaviour unchallenged is behaviour encouraged.

Wherever you go in life, keep sweet with the cook. And be a good listener.

People divide life into work and play. They don't realise that if they choose the right work, work is play. I say to my children, choose the kind of work that brings a smile to your face.

I yearn for human contact more than anything else. It provides a happy breeze through the window of my life. I feel stifled on my own, unless I am writing. Then, silence matters.