'The Impossible Dream' is, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs ever written. Here is a man, an old man, a very old man full of daring, bravery, courage, determination, romanticism and dreams.

Someone asked me yesterday if Dracula met Saruman and there was a fight, who would win. I just looked at this man. What an idiotic thing to say. I mean, really, it was half-witted.

We don't always get the kind of work we want, but we always have a choice of whether to do it with good grace or not.

Lon Chaney and Boris Karloff didn't like the word 'horror'. They, like I, went for the French description: 'the theatre of the fantastique'.

I associate heavy metal with fantasy because of the tremendous power that the music delivers.

The Dracula movies are probably some of the most famous and enduring ones there are and I am very grateful to them, for sure.

My favourite country is Finland because once you get to a certain point, you can drive for hours without seeing a single person. I love peace and quiet - something I don't get very often.

I have been metal all my life, only I did not know about it. The people in this album (Charlemagne) and I, share the same values.

I haven't spent my entire career playing the guy in the bad hat, although I have to say that the bad guy is frequently much more interesting than the good guy.

The thing I have always tried to do is surprise people, to present them with something they didn't expect.

I thought that people should know about the dangers of Satanism, and diabolism does exist - there's no question about it.

The power of weapons is transient and destroys everything. The power of love is everlasting and creates all things.

For a novelist, the gaps in a story are as intriguing as material that still exists.

It's not where you start or where you finish. It is the distance between the two.

I'm thinking of putting together an all-star band. I definitely have a bit of a rock fantasy.

I'm a very private person.

Hope, like the gleaming taper's light, Adorns and cheers our way; And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray.

There’s a difference between thinking you deserve to be happy and knowing that you are worthy of being happy. Your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.

It's harder to make the glass than break the glass.

My kids are my salvation.... It's a delight to walk in and get charged by a five-year-old and a two-year-old. That'll make you forget the darkness.

Every pessimist who ever lived has been buried in an unmarked grave. Tomorrow has always been better than today, and it always will be.