The global economy is spluttering back into life. The Tories would have left it to choke to death.

Deficits must be cut, yes, but the rush to austerity risks undermining the fragile global recovery.

Our goal is to make finance the servant, not the master, of the real economy.

On top of that, we have a healthy and stable economy and an end to the boom and bust that characterised the Tory years.

The question is not whether Scotland can survive as a separate state. Of course it could.

The economic times we are facing... are arguably the worst they've been in 60 years. And I think it's going to be more profound and long-lasting than people thought.

We can't be in the business of carting fresh air around the country.

We were at the stage where in a very short period of time, one of the world's biggest banks would have to shut the door and switch off the electricity.

The key thing that went wrong was that a culture was allowed to develop where the relationship between what people did and what they got went way out of alignment, especially at the top end.

Tory plans to cut 'further and faster' would wreck recovery and roll back Labour's many successes.

As I said, there are two approaches-first, a strong economy, stability and helping families or, secondly, the Tory cuts, the undermining of stability, and a return to the boom and bust of the 1990s.

Greatness is not greater than you. You have total control over greatness. You can decide to be great and it will happen.

Stories shape the world.

I write about love all the time, what a tragedy those stories turn into.

In a country like India, the British were only able to rule the country because it had completely co-opted the elite of the country, who did their work for them.

I don't want to associate myself with any specific group of politicians.

If you fall in love with somebody, then you're not even worried about your bills. Love can take your mind off of anything.

Creeds matter very little... The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. So I elect for neither label.

Without Jimmy Carter we might not have gotten Ronald Reagan, without Ronald Reagan there would probably still be a Soviet Union.

Nice tights," I snorted. Or I tried to snort, anyway. I'm not exactly sure how, though people in books are always doing it.

You will receive abundance for your giving. The more you give, the more you will have!