Paddy Ashdown is the only party leader who's a trained killer. Although, to be fair, Mrs Thatcher was self taught.

To run an effective political party you need a degree of tribalism, it's the glue that holds everyone together.

Courage is a peculiar kind of fear.

The quicker we get rid of the lobby system the better for all of us. I don't think in this day and age it is tenable to have these nods and winks, and on-the-record and off-the-record briefings.

Immigrants provide skills that we simply cannot afford to do without. They have contributed hugely to Britain's success.

Three simple words - freedom, justice and honesty. These sum up what the Liberal Democrats stand for.

We should have high expectations of our children, but politicians should not tell teachers how to meet them.

My favourite novel is Frederick Forsythe's Day Of The Jackal, the story about the unproven case of this apparent Englishman who was hired to assassinate De Gaulle….

Music and politics are in essence about communication. Without over-stretching the analogy I do feel a sense of rhythm is important in getting your message across.

The one thing we can all be sure about in politics is you are as well to expect the unexpected.

Politics is much too serious to be taken too seriously; equally, there are many aspects of it so laughable as to be lamentable.

Having a low opinion of yourself is not 'modesty.' It's self-destruction. Holding your uniqueness in high regard is not 'egotism.' It's a necessary precondition to happiness and success.

If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail.

If the nature of her foes would speak to the credit of Bridget's death, then surely the nature of her allies would speak even more loudly about clearly of her life.

The course of a life can be changed with some well timed, lovingly asked, honestly answered questions.

Intelligence is being intelligent enough to know you're not so intelligent as you intelligently once thought.

Revenge is a particularly interesting concept, especially the notion of whether or not it exists outside of just an abstract idea.

I absolutely believe that a lot of the issues raised in 'Amped' about technology migrating into our bodies are issues that we're really going to deal with soon.

A good dancer changes the way dancing was thought after he left the floor.

When you use the term minority or minorities in reference to people, you're telling them that they're less than somebody else.

Bell, book and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on.