I took some classes in sign language when I was in my early teens because I was told that I would be completely deaf very early. But I never really wanted to learn.

One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace that I knew was possible of deaf people.

Nothing is going to improve my hearing. I've only got to prevent it from getting worse.

I can not remember even thinking that I was deaf when I was dancing.

But as far as my work is concerned, I see no impediment, and various advantages, to being deaf.

I genuinely enjoy talking one-to-one. I have no shyness about that.

I think the deafness affects me more than I realise I think it makes me more tired. I loathe parties. I attend, smile and leave.

I'm the one by the backdoor - I am not the one in the middle of the party.

When I got into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a doctor told me to give up the course as I'd be totally deaf within a couple of years. But I refused to give in.

I'm lucky that most of the time I'm on location in amazing places. Most of the time, I don't need holidays, I just stop working.

People keep asking me if I'll marry again. It's as if after you've had one car crash you want another.

As he prepared to ride on, he chuckled at the thought of the wolf entering the sheepfold. He would not ride with fire and destruction. The shepherd did not frighten his own pretty lambs.

If you develop rules, never have more than ten.

Believe me, folks, I've been saying it for a long time. The system, the whole system is rigged.

Every morning just before breakfast I don't want no coffee or tea, just me and my good Buddy Wieser, that's all I ever need.

The fool is often oblivious of his own gaucherie.

I didn't get the charm gene.

I never understood the need for a "live" audience. My music, because of its extreme quietude, would be happiest with a dead one.

There's someone out there who needs you. You must live your life so that person can find you.

When you jump across a canyon, cautious small steps and vacillation won't work. Sometimes you just have to go for it.

You do not have to practise all that you read. Take one or two things to practise and then it will become a reality to you.