I know sometimes I can come off like a lonely spinster in a tower. That's not me at all.

We need better things, not more. We should not pollute the world with meaningless, unused things when we can make and support things of rare and precious beauty.

I'm always reading many books at a time. It might be quite unorthodox, but what I do is, since I'm always surrounded with books, I'll read a page of physics, and then I'll read a chapter of a novel that I really love, and then I'll say, "Oh well, what does that mixture do in my head?" I adore reference books. I love encyclopedias. I also like just going back to original texts, because a lot of these self-help books today.

I practice stoic philosophy. As a human being, you may have emotions, but these don't need to affect your soul. The two are not one.

Fragrance takes you on a journey of time. You can walk down the street and pass someone and get taken back 20 years. It's very Proustian that way.

Everyone thought I was going to fall down on my shoes and I kept saying, 'Well if I do I'll just get up!'

I really try to understand what people are saying and answer as honestly as I can. But sometimes it's like they try to tie you into knots. That's why I mostly steer clear of the popular press. I try not to read . . . Well, I never read gossip press. I just read books. And I never switch on the TV any more.