But the ability to articulate what you are doing, to be clear about it, and to stick to it is, I think, the essence of political leadership.

In a democracy everybody has a right to be represented, including the jerks.

Hong Kong's people will get what they want, despite China's objections. Freedom invariably wins in the end.

Hong Kong represents the kind of Asia with which both West and East are comfortable... It offers, in that sense, a vision for the future of Asia.

I don't think that capitalism should be unbridled, if by "unbridled" you mean unregulated.

In democracy everyone has the right to be represented, even the jerks.

So, what I say to people is that politics has got to be about principle and values above all. Of course, there are times when you have to make accommodations.

I suppose I've always carried what is regarded as a bit of unnecessary baggage in Britain. I've always carried the charge that I am an intellectual in politics.

Green politics at its worst amounts to a sort of Zen fascism; less extreme, it denounces growth and seeks to stop the world so that we can all get off.

Anyone who supposed that when Margaret Thatcher left Number Ten she was going to take a Trappist vow did not know that formidable politician.

I think that if politics is just about getting your backside on important seats, then it's a pretty worthless endeavor.

Famous people like to choose friends who won't go around repeating their conversations and details about them.

In my seventies, I exercised to stay ambulatory. In my eighties, I exercise to avoid assisted living.

Where painting is weakest, namely, in the expression of the highest moral and spiritual ideas, there music is sublimely strong.

To say of a picture, as is often said in its praise, that it shows great and earnest labour, is to say that it is incomplete and unfit for view.

Have fun. Especially while you're still young, you gotta keep the spark up. Even when things get boring, just remember to have fun.

That painter who has no doubts will achieve little.

We don't think every man should be free to pass on everything to his descendants.

Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.

An artist needn't be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men.

When I'm on a red carpet I want somebody to feel something when they look at what I'm wearing, when they look at the entire ensemble, whether it be nostalgia or excitement, you know?