My mum taught me always to see the funny side of things.

If Shakespeare was around today I would ask him out to dinner. The only thing I don't like about him is the way he did his hair.

I think some period drama can be quite alienating, but 'Downton' isn't. This is going to sound quite, um, pretentious, but someone said that it's like a soap written by a poet.

Cooking can cure almost anything.

I come from a very working-class background, so my family would have been downstairs in the past, as opposed to upstairs. People are often quite surprised to hear that, that I'm not actually posh.

I think the first time I realised Downton Abbey was a hit was when I was sitting in a tea shop in New York and the couple next to me were talking about Downton Abbey, and then they recognised me.

I had dance training from a very young age, 3 or 4... It taught me how to present myself, about preparation and working in an ensemble, and its something that carries with me to this day.

I don't get recognized all the time, but it tends to happen more in America, and people are so lovely when they do.

I love discovering tiny streets.

I don't mind wearing a corset; it informs your posture, changes the way you move, you can't slouch.

I love cycling, but if I could find a way of building something above the streets for cyclists, that would be amazing. We need even more space.

Abiding does not mean sitting idly by. It means resting in the work, resting in the moment, resting in the truth, resting in the confidence that God is your provision.

Pentecost was the day of power of the Holy Spirit. It was the day the Christian church was born.

I think the gap between rich and poor is an extremely dangerous phenomenon and needs the immediate attention of the state.

All the pundits and D.C. insiders thought I'd never be standing on the main stage. I am and I'm going to stay there.

Believing your own bullshit is always a perilous activity, but never more fatal than for the owner of a start-up venture.

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

Love may be or it may not, but where it is, it ought to reveal itself in its immensity.

And for me there's still more material than 20 lifetimes that I can use up.

If I were ever prosecuted for my religion, I truly hope there would be enough evidence to convict me.

Very successful people say no to almost everything.