The writer in movies is about as low as you can get and you really are a hired hand. You are paid a lot of money to be treated like dirt.

Be careful about the advice you give, especially to your children.

I was getting rewarded for writing well, from about the age of five or six. A teacher would say, "Look what Andrew has written," and I thought, "Maybe I could be a writer."

People like bonnets. I don't think you can under-estimate that.

I used to have this Mercedes, a dark blue 450SLC, which was the most beautiful car. I'd like to have another unusual, beautiful car.

When you see two writers named on a movie, one of them did some drafts and got the boot.

Novels often have leisurely openings; a TV drama needs an arresting opening.

I prefer love scenes to be shot up close with a lot of focus on eyes and mouths. Otherwise it can feel uncomfortable and voyeuristic.

As a fairly innocent teenager, growing up in a village in Wales, I just thought, "God, I would like to go and hang about Soho and write great poetry and try to avoid drinking myself to death."

I'm absolutely delighted if people think of me as a reliable purveyor of quality period stuff.

I suppose I have the tastes of someone who teaches at a university in the provinces.

History should be studied but not worshipped.

We are flowers in the field seeking our individuality. We may seem similar but we are all unique, without exception. Everyone is special.

Isn't it ironic that being immortal would reveal the fool's errand of immortality?

Respect is one of the greatest expressions of love.

Humankind seems to have an enormous capacity for savagery, for brutality, for lack of empathy, for lack of compassion.

...China has announced that...it will hold the beach volleyball contest at the site of the 1989 massacre. Even Hitler didn't have the chutzpah to stage the 100-yard dash at Dachau.

Some people spend all their lives searching for their soul mates.

There's no way that I know of to avoid pain absolutely, but suffering is the interpretation we choose to place on the pain we encounter.

I'm not an actress, I'm a personality.

The more compassionate you are, the more generous you can be. The more generous you are, the move loving friendliness you cultivate to help the world.