I'm not necessarily proud of the World Cups and the grand slams won or lost, the amount of points I scored, this record or that.

I refuse to go into a fast-food outlet - to use the toilet even - in case anyone got the wrong idea and thought I was sneaking in a quick burger.

I play with a fear of letting my team down. That's what motivates me.

What I am proud of is I have searched for the best of me and I have been a team man without fail.

I only get the points because I have team-mates who do the work and put me in the position to get them.

I'm pretty aware that the pursuit of perfection is, inherently, a flawed concept.

Playing the game, representing the team, giving my all and never letting go has meant everything to me.

We need to ask ourselves what are we here for and what have we worked so hard to be here for.

My own position is so far on the obsessive side of preparation and professionalism that I fear my point of view is not going to be shared by anyone.

When you're obsessive, like me, searching for something unattainable can become unhealthy ... it's like falling through the air and grabbing at the clouds.

I'm very happy to be back playing rugby for England again - there were times when I questioned if this would happen.

In order to attain extraordinary greatness, first you need to be drowned in the deepest fathoms of helplessness, misery and heartache.

Most of the time reason for unhappiness is, desiring for the things which are far from our expectations.

It's hard to get fired from the government. You have to, like, kill people.

Let go of everything. That is how you get everything; you let go of everything.

O the anguish of the thought that we can never atone to our dead for the stinted affection we gave them.

It's possible to dazzle a crowd if you really work at it. But that is no qualification for leadership. Hitler was a master of crowds.

Making mistakes is the privilege of the active. It is always the mediocre people who are negative, who spend their time proving that they were not wrong.

It's great to have something to dress up for. You know, I spent three years in slacks at drama school, so now I like putting a dress on.

Babies don't need a vacation, but I still see them at the beach... it pisses me off! I'll go over to a little baby and say 'What are you doing here? You haven't worked a day in your life!'

When you're singing you can hear the echo of people in the audience singing every single word with you, and that was that big dream that I had for myself. It's happening.