From the age of about five to twelve I was very bad, a hideous little terror who beat people up. I was a member of a Rough Gang - we went around and terrorised all the pupils in school.

I've got a vendetta to destroy the Net, to make everyone go to the library. I love the organic thing of pen and paper, ink on canvas. I love going down to the library, the feel and smell of books.

Whether you're a believer or not, I think there's a huge value in understanding the quality of redemption.

When I was offered the part in Shakespeare In Love a voice in my head said 'not another tights role!

I love new writing, new blood, modern works by unknown writers.

I love life. I'm fascinated by human behavior because that feeds back into my work.

It takes years to establish yourself, and then you have one big film and everyone calls you an overnight success. You think, 'Christ, I've been sweating and crying for seven years.'.

I don't know what my limitations are until I reach them. I look for the challenge.

Youth is a predominant factor. We are seeing a young King Arthur, and thereby a young-ish - as I'm into my 40s - Merlin. It was about how to tackle it, from that point view.

I've always believed that you shouldn't want to mend a broken heart, because that's someone you don't want to forget. Scars can be good.

I think religion might throw up a kind of resistance, but I think if one talks about conditioning we can all kind of understand that.

Good listening places us on an edifice of learning complex human behavior.

The books are your teacher, after and before school.

Success is not a doorway it's a staircase.

If we could make our house a home, and then make it a sanctuary, I think we could truly find paradise on Earth.

When you arrive in China nowadays, one of the first things you note is the emphasis placed on you, a non-Chinese person, being an outsider.

Sophomore records are historically really difficult.

Oh, the holiness of being the injured party.

Creating abundance [is] not about creating a life of luxury for everybody on this planet; it's about creating a life of possibility.

Just do it. Get it down on the page. Work hard. And then let go. Ask yourself why you want to write. You have to be clear about that.