I've become a professional failure - in order to pay the mortgage I have to remain unemployed. Luckily, a disaster always seems to befall me at exactly the right moment.

People in London think of London as the center of the world, whereas New Yorkers think the world ends three miles outside of Manhattan.

I miss being fawned over by restaurateurs and chefs.

I expect that in 40 years' time I'll be writing political tomes and working for an organisation like Oxfam.

I tried being a mechanic and I tried catering, but I realized I had even less aptitude for semi-skilled labour than for academic work.

Everyone said to me growing up, "You're like an American. You have to go to America. That's your spiritual home."

My life's ambition is to play a James Bond villain. I have the cat and the eye-patch, so I'm just waiting for the call. For some reason, though, the phone hasn't rung.

I don't envy young Brits crossing the Atlantic to make their fortunes today.

Top Chef is a very smooth-running machine. All the people working there are incredibly professional and absolutely at the top of their game.

I wouldn't describe myself as a master of anything.

There's no reason why you can't deliver a grammar-school curriculum to an all-ability intake.

Learning a new language, just like opening a new window, allows you to see the world with intimacy.

I know it's a rare privilege, but if one can really tackle something in adult life that means that much to you, then it's more rewarding than anything I can imagine.

Nature still obstinately refuses to co-operate by making the rich people innately superior to the poor people.

There's nineteen men livin' in my neighborhood, Eighteen of them are fools and the one ain't no doggone good.

The giant step in the walk of faith is the one we take when we decide God no longer is a part of our lives. He IS our life.

I'm a person with virtually no feelings.

In a multipolar world, there must be more powers capable of taking responsibility, the US and Europe must be able to unite to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Making a woman laugh. What is that about? And the prettier the woman, the more satisfaction I get. It doesn't make any sense, but I'm being honest.

All things I do are in every woman. Every woman is Medea. Every woman is Jocasta. There comes a time when a woman is a mother to her husband. Clytemnestra is every woman when she kills.

My mentoring program is pretty specific, it's about self-empowerment, about being able to find solutions through teamwork. That's one of my first goals.