Perhaps our imagination needs crime stories to fulfill some craving we have, as a way to assuage a darkness in ourselves.

My mother taught me what it is to have a sense of humour; my dad, who was a headmaster, everything you need to know about hard work. My dad is the most decent man you could come across.

I'm not strong-willed enough or unkind enough... or maybe simply not wise enough to tell a journalist that a subject is out of bounds.

In my life, I have made the occasional catastrophic choice, and it's just a case of moving on and learning from it.

Spoilt is a euphemism for loved.

I spend my money on holidays and eating out, and it allows me to be generous.

It's ridiculous, but it's horrible going bald. Anyone who says it isn't is lying.

I didn't much like Las Vegas. The noise of the place and the whole 24-hour, 'let's play the slot machines all night' culture of the place just left me cold.

I thought I was God's gift to mankind and the greatest Irishman since George Best.

New Zealand is a place where you can get well.

I'd be a very easy therapist's subject.

Being your authentic self reassures the people you meet.

Politics knows no currency.

You don’t get to break someone's heart and think everything is fine just because you say sorry. That's just not fair.

There's not only emotion in the way you sing but also in what you sing. That way I can compensate it.

Ours was a history of well-intentioned beginnings that end with a fight at every turn.

Could the search for ultimate truth really have revealed so hideous and visceral looking an object?

It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.

The ego knows itself by comparison.

Your body is a divine container that will change over your lifetime. Revel in this! Notice it! This is the way of things: the softening of the shell so the soul may emerge.

All great poets have been men of great knowledge.