Let's drink to the spirit of gallantry and courage that made a strange Heaven out of unbelievable Hell, and let's drink to the hope that one day this country of ours, which we love so much, will find dignity and greatness and peace again.

AMANDA: I think very few people are completely normal really, deep down in their private lives.

Work hard, do the best you can, don't ever lose faith in yourself and take no notice of what other people say about you.

Everybody worships me, it's nauseating.

There are bad times just around the corner, There are dark clouds travelling through the sky, And it's no good whining, About a silver lining, For we know from experience they won't roll by...

Labour leaders lead us all, though we know they bleed us all. Cheer our new Decline and Fall, Gibbon might have dreamed it all.

People are wrong when they say opera is not what it used to be. It is what it used to be. That is what's wrong with it.