I did think of becoming a priest quite late on, when other boys were thinking of knocking over fences and going out with girls. I would have made a very good bishop: nice housekeeper, nice clothes - god, the clothes.
I am very much looking forward to being a parish priest.
I have always considered a clergyman as the father of a larger family than he is able to maintain.
But a priest's life is not supposed to be well-rounded; it is supposed to be one-pointed - a compass, not a weathercock.
I just wanted to be an ordinary parish priest.
I have never had demands on me as acute as when I was a parish priest.
From my childhood I had been intended for the clergy. This prospect hung like a dark cloud on my mind.
How can a bishop marry? How can he flirt? The most he can say is "I will see you in the vestry after service."
