Rees's First Law of Quotations: When in doubt, ascribe all quotations to George Bernard Shaw.

It is part of politics to make things look better than they really are. What is a spin doctor but a serial euphemiser?

I got into New College, Oxford. The ethos was that you could work - or not.

How come there's only one Monopolies Commission?

My job involves searching for 'lost' quotations - that is, trying to find out who came up with a quotable saying that lingers in someone's mind and which they wish to use for their own purpose and which they cannot find in conventional dictionaries of quotation.

I was terribly shy and never said anything in class. Then I started getting into school plays. When you've got words to say, you've got a sort of armour.

I was broadcast-struck from an early age; I had saved up for a tape recorder and started making programmes.