I was by far the youngest of the family, and at times it was like being an only child.

I was never very good at exams, having a poor memory and finding the examination process rather artificial, and there never seemed to be enough time to follow up things that really interested me.

I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science.

My parents were neither wealthy nor academic, but we lived comfortably and they were always extremely supportive of my academic efforts and aspirations, both at school and university.

At age 11 in 1960, I moved to an academic state secondary school, Harrow County Grammar School for Boys.

Scientific understanding is often beautiful, a profoundly aesthetic experience which gives pleasure not unlike the reading of a great poem.

This possibility bothered me as I thought it was not advisable to remain in one academic environment, and the long dark winters in Edinburgh could be rather dismal.

I am still a keen mountain walker and an enthusiastic glider pilot.

During the winter my attention was attracted to the changes in the stars and planets in the sky.

After an extensive interview he arranged for my weaknesses in foreign languages to be over-looked and so I started a Biology degree at Birmingham in 1967.

It has been a privilege to pursue knowledge for its own sake and to see how it might help mankind in more practical ways.

Love isn't about holding on. It's about letting go.

Congressmen who willfully take action during wartime that damages morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hung

The difficulty of IVF or of any fertility issues is the hope and the shattered hope, the dream that it might happen this time and then it doesn't happen.

It's always a little mind-boggling to realize that these famous actors know who I am.

If there's intelligence behind an opinion, then I'm all for expressing it, but I would never just start a fight with someone for the sake of it - that's just not me.

The monument I want after I am dead is a monument with two legs going around the world-a saved sinner telling about the salvation of Jesus Christ.

I've done Last Samurai in Japan, in LA, in New Zealand. Even in Japan it is very hard to shoot, because there's been so many changes. Only around a temple can we shoot.

Inflation usually helps the economy at large, but not the 1% if wages rise. So the 1% says that it is terrible.

Whoever recounts to you the faults of your neighbour will doubtless expose your defects to others.

The sum total or Ishwara may be said to be All-good, Almighty, and Omniscient. These are obvious qualities, and need no argument to prove, from the very fact of totality.