Shakespeare's work is like a good song: you never really forget the main lines.

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.

The coolest thing about fandom is the friendships made along the way with people who share your passions.

Some of the pain released, and love filled the cleared space, uniting, magnetizing more self-love to it.

The promise you attract is determined by what you seek

Those who Know they do not Know that to Know is to Know what they do not Know!

Art is really whispering, not shouting.

The engineering of consent is the very essence of the democratic process, the freedom to persuade and suggest.

At Texas A&M you learn first to follow, then to develop and practice your leadership skills, and finally you become someone others want to follow.

I found Elvis on the Internet, I went camping with a young cadet, he showed me his bayonet.

We people in camp are merely big children, wayward and changeable.

I lived my twenties in a very public manner and if anyone's twenties are documented it's not always going to be pretty.