The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it.

People always seem to assume that we have a full, back-up support team - make-up, costume and a driver - but usually, in a war zone, there's only me and the cameraman.

On the Northern Ireland question, for instance, the British and Irish governments prohibit media contact with members of the IRA, but we have always gone ahead, believing in the right to information.

Hair is also a problem. I remember once, when I was reporting from Beirut at the height of the civil war, someone wrote in to the BBC complaining about my appearance.

I have no time for the endless nostalgia: 'Oh gosh I used to . . . ' Life is too short; I don't have any time for sitting and saying I miss things. What's the point? Go and do something else.'

My job is to get to the heart of a story, to find out what's really going on; to get it verified and, then, to get it out to as many people as possible as fast as.

I don't want to be involved in endless media gossip.

I was sent to a nice Church of England girls' school and at that time, after university, a woman was expected to become a teacher, a nurse or a missionary - prior to marriage.

I never desired to go into war zones. I never had any thought about it. It sort of just happened as part of the job.

I wrote in the book very specifically what I wanted to write about, period, and left it at.

Now children as young as nine carry AK47s which can kill 30 people in seconds.

He smiled in a way that made me want to kiss him right on the spot. Or the lips. Whichever was closer.

A person who loves you through your idiosyncrasies, despite the tiny inclusions, is a diamond worth keeping.

There is little evidence that our individual intelligence has improved through recorded history.

Left to me, the whole purpose of government is for the security of the citizens, like the security of lives and property.

Half of your power lies in your sameness with others. The other half lies in your uniqueness.

Calvin: Medically speaking:. That's love?!?..... Hobbes: Heck, that happened to me once, but I figured it was cooties!!

It is play and only play that makes man complete.

The media has dubbed me as someone who can only get up for the big tournaments, and that is not who I want to be.

It is not “just beer,” it is a noble and ancient beverage which, like wine, food and television advertising, can be extraordinarily good or unmercifully bad.

To simply dismiss the concept of God as being unscientific is to violate the very objectivity of science itself.