It sounds trite, but I like telling stories.

There are people all over the world who like to write fan letters in the voice of their pet: 'Hello, my name is Fifi and I'm a labrador and I think you're great. Paw paw!'

Lentil dhal is the only thing I can cook.

As a child I loved ghost stories.

If you act scared, your body produces adrenaline.

A floor length backless black sequined dress would be my dream dress. As for my dream date - that would have to be a young Marlon Brando!

One aspect of my mum's personality that has influenced me is her love of Hollywood and the golden era of black-and-white films.

I always look for contradiction in a character.

A good piece of art raises questions.

Sometimes I can spend months doing things to make sure that my instincts work correctly, but ultimately it's still instinctive.

I've always had horrible Valentine's Days.

Come with me and take back your lives!

I have to keep facing the darkness. If I stand tall and face the thing I fear, I have a chance to conquer it. If I just keep dodging and hiding it will conquer me.

People who are hard on others are usually very hard on themselves, and the pain they inflict on others is a reflection of the pain they inflict on themselves.

Freedom of the press is perhaps the freedom that has suffered the most from the gradual degradation of the idea of liberty.

The sea is as near as we come to another world.

You can't pay for healthcare if we're sending a trillion dollars a year to dictators.

My observations of Japanese naval fighting men, their abilities and equipment led me to believe that they gave a better account of themselves than we did.

That's always the way in life: the longer you leave things, the harder they are to do.

Bipartisanship is not what is missing in Washington. Common sense is.

Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos.