Leave three Englishmen in a room and they will invent a rule that prevents a fourth joining them.

Maggie Smith has a unique sense of comedy, based on a somewhat ironic view of real life, making it both funnier and more sad. But perhaps her greatest ability, or at least the one that most intrigues me, is how she can convey deep and powerful emotion without a trace of sentimentality.

The business of life is learning that you can't lay down the terms.

I think American television changed world television in its reinvention of the series.

I never know which is worse: the sorrow when you hit the bird or the shame when you miss it.

I mean the truth is, I've always been interested in the whole setup of the old world.

People tend to view history as if it were another planet and think the modern world was invented in 1963. I don't agree.