At school any spontaneous act was likely to get me into trouble. I learned never to act on impulse, and that whatever came into my mind first should be rejected in favour of better ideas. I learned that my imagination Wasn’t ‘good’ enough. I learned that the first idea was unsatisfactory because it was (1) psychotic; (2) obscene; (3) unoriginal. The truth is that the best ideas are often psychotic, obscene and unoriginal.

Don't come on to be funny - come on to solve problems.

The problem's always been to deal with the fear.Cos the fear is pretty . . . it ruins everybody really.

I was crazy about silent comedy - in the old days, and crazy about Japanese movies.

If you have a good idea, open your mouth and say something else.

I'm not against work, I think work is great, I work a lot; but if you want to play, the consequences must not be important.

As I grew up, everything started getting grey and dull. I could still remember the amazing intensity of the world I'd lived in as a child, but I thought the dulling of perception was an inevitable consequence of age - just as a lens of the eye is bound gradually to dim. I didn't understand that clarity is in the mind.