All the things that were read to me by my father were stories about things becoming all right.

That element of surprise is what I look for when I am writing. It is my way of judging what I am doing - which is never an easy thing to do.

The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it.

One isn’t born one’s self. One is born with a mass of expectations, a mass of other people’s ideas – and you have to work through it all.

Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.

It is wrong to have an ideal view of the world. That's where the mischief starts. That's where everything starts unravelling.

The only lies for which we are truly punished are those we tell ourselves.

Home is, I suppose just a child's idea. A house at night, and a lamp in the house. A place to feel safe.

One always writes comedy at the moment of deepest hysteria.

The world is always in movement.

All the details of the life and the quirks and the friendships can be laid out for us, but the mystery of the writing will remain. No amount of documentation, however fascinating, can take us there.

Strong anger can only make you weaker than you already are

Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.

The complacency of Christians is the scandal of Christianity.

I definitely feel moved and affected after interviews, but not in a way that's anything other than positive. There are moments that make me want to cry, but not in any way I can't handle.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. General recognition of this fact is shown in the proverbial phrase "It is the busiest man who has time to spare."

I really put a lot of and emotion into my project in order to evoke emotion.

I grew up in a show biz family and, if you wanted to talk at the dinner table, you'd better be prepared to talk about film.

Bev Pettersen writes with flair and a down-to-earth warmth that will make you smile and sigh with contentment.

We need to make it safe to cycle across London. Why not pedestrianise parts of London like Oxford Street and Parliament Square? I intend to plant 200 million trees across London in my term as mayor.

In the same degree that we overrate ourselves, we shall underrate others.