If I could get back my youth, I'd do anything in the world except get up early, take exercise or be respectable.

I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

Oh, brothers! I don't care for brothers. My elder brother won't die, and my younger brothers seem never to do anything else.

If a man treats life artistically, his brain is his heart.

What fire does not destroy, it hardens

All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.

The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

Seeing him again after so long awakened something inside me. I was surprised to find myself feeling sad rather than joyful, as I would have imagined.

To be truly alive is to feel one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence.

Any form of a winning record in the conference is an accomplishment.

Talent without work is useless, thank God

When I started to work with UNICEF, it was a new way of giving some love and care to the world.

But you make me sing like a guitar humming . . .

I think people expect mud at festivals, I think you'd be asking for your money back if you didn't get it.

There's no beauty that you could perceive or create if it were not already within you.

It's great to do small plays in the theatre and then go off with Blur and play in front of thousands of people.

I'm proud to report that in 2004 alone, we approved 3,600 new units of housing - our best year ever!