When you are desperate to get someone who isn't all that interested in you, you lay siege as hard as you can.

I just don't believe in generalisations.

Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.

I envy people who can think, 'No, I'm not going to work today' when they have a huge pile of deadlines stacking up.

If we don't respect the past, we'll find it harder to build a future.

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 English country house is certainly an icon of British culture.