Outside of America, there are many people, myself included, who champion values that, in some senses, could be thought of as traditionally American - the idea that everybody's equal, that the rights of women and men should be the same, that there should be no discrimination on religious or sexual orientation, that democracy and rule of law and due process are the ways in which society should govern themselves and minorities should be cared for.

As a child I read all kinds of stuff, whether it was 'Asterix and Obelix' and 'Tin Tin' comic books, or 'Lord of the Rings,' or Frank Herbert's sci-fi. Or 'The Wind in the Willows.' Or 'Charlotte's Web.'

It is the effect of scarcity; one’s rules of propriety make one thirst for the improper.

We need a self because the complexity of the chemical processes that make up our individual humanities exceeds the processing power of our brains.

I responded to the gravity of an invisible moon at my core, and I undertook journeys I had not expected to take.

And with a last stardrop, a last circle, I arrive, and she's there, chemical wonder in her eyes.

I like the idea of an open, international London that thrives on attracting hard-working, talented people but has the confidence to tell them they must play by the same rules as everyone else.