I imagine hell like this: Italian punctuality, German humour and English wine.

The stupidity of a stupid man is mercifully intimate and reticient, while the stupidity of an intellectual is cried from the rooftops.

I can never forgive God for having invented the French

A diplomat these days is nothing but a head waiter who's allowed to sit down occasionally.

Basically I'm a very serious person, but I think the form it takes with me is comedy. I see the amusing side of all potentially pompous situations.

Generals are fascinating cases of arrested development - after all, at five all of us wanted to be generals.

I have three daughters and I find as a result I played King Lear almost without rehearsal.