I was quite fat as a kid. And swimming is a sport you can enjoy whatever size you are. If you're fat, running is a pain. I'm not really built for running.

I'm terribly attention-seeking. It's very different once you get all this attention, though. Because then you want to control it. And you can't exactly.

All you can do in this life is follow your dreams. Otherwise you're just wasting your time.

A bully can only make you feel bad about yourself if you let them.

I thrive off the company of others, I love being sociable.

I was the kind of person who got bullied and loved the attention of it.

I've just swum the length of the Thames. I feel quite tired.

People think writing a children's book is something you could do in an afternoon but it's actually really hard.

I am a huge fan of 'Doctor Who.'

I was depressed as a child. I found it hard to make friends. My favourite thing was locking myself in the bathroom and practising comedy routines.

Children's books are often seen as the poor relation of literature. But children are just as demanding as adult readers, if not more so. I should know. I'm a children's writer myself.

It's hard to quit when you already have a clear positive mental picture of what you seek.

Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.

The pessimist waits for better times, and expects to keep on waiting; the optimist goes to work with the best that is at hand now, and proceeds to create better times.

I'm handsome, no ands, buts or ifs.

Have lots of plants in your house. Nature and plants understand something about stillness and silence. As you interact with the green world, you will find a peace will enter your life.

The thing is, we've changed our style but we've never changed the actual roots of what we've done.

Everyone knows that if you've got a brother, you're going to fight.

If every inhabitant of a liberal democracy believes in liberal democracy, then it doesn't matter what creed or colour they are.

I've always assumed he'd be around to be, you know, yelled at and taken for granted. And of course I was wrong. Nobody's going to put up with that forever.

At any moment I could give up, but I haven't because love for me is an indispensable structure for being.