When I was 11 I played the part of Rumpelstiltskin and my teacher told me I would make a great actor.

I met Picasso when I was a kid. I turned one of his drawings down which would be worth £37 million now. My dad wouldn't talk to me for a fortnight.

I've become quite a serious explorer: I've been to Everest three times; I'm the oldest man to reach the North Pole; and I've just been to the lost world of Venezuela.

The greatest danger in life is not taking chances. There are so many negative people wanting to grind you down, but you can't let them. If people say you are mad, you know you're on the right track.

Wishing kindness and compassion to all living creatures.

The misapprehension about me is that I am some loud, rampant maniac. I am actually very pensive and quiet.

There will be no funeral! Before I get too old and ill, I'll go to South America and live among the Pemon people and meditate. When the time is right, they can throw my body into the volcano.

I fed my Yak on my spare Cadbury chocolate 21,0000ft up Everest. It was a blonde, very sweet female Yak. I made it my pet after that.

In the news this week, the polls continue to slide for Gordon Brown and some people are saying he's dead and buried. But I think the opposite - I say GORDON'S ALIVE!

I'll never retire. The new millennium is the age of adventure as far as I am concerned. I'm going up a volcano and off into space.

My dream is to own a Hockney - I'm a Yorkshireman, and his vibrant colours are a good example of how the north-country people are vibrant and colourful.

We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.

Fate, " Bizzy said, "adjusts quicker 'n a hungery dog can lick a dish.

Did you write the words, or the lyrics?

I've had quite a few moments I've liked, so it's good enough.

The work comes into the world at an undetermined hour, from a still unknown, but it comes inevitably.

All countries should immediately now activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Countries should remain on high alert for unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illness and severe pneumonia.

When I watch a film, I watch only as an audience and only later I might analyse it.

As a writer, I will tell you that darkness is so easy to make interesting. It is so easy because you're allowed to do anything you want.

The gull sees farthest who flies highest

And is it selfish of me to crave victory, or is it brave?