For years J John and Mark Stibbe have recorded the most offbeat, shrewd and hard-hitting material they have come across in the course of their study and travel. With remarkable generosity they have agreed to share this selection with the rest of us. There's a new diet that is all the rage. You can eat all you see of everything you don't like. On the sixth day, God created the platypus. And God said : "Let's see the evolutionists try and figure this one out." Advice to fathers over 40: keep an open mind and a closed refrigerator. We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. There's a new remedy on the market for baldness. It doesn't grow hair but it shrinks your head to fit what hair your head has left. Education is forcing abstract ideas into concrete heads.

The Revd Dr Mark Stibbe leads the Father's House Trust, based in Watford. He has written many books, including the acclaimed A Box of Delights (Monarch) and is a popular speaker both in the UK and throughout the restof Europe.