“One of the pleasures of staying with friends is that you get to browse...” — Simon Hoggart Quote

“One of the pleasures of staying with friends is that you get to browse their shelves. I always arrive with a book, but I almost never read it. It would be like sitting at their dinner table and opening a packet of sandwiches.”

“While it is entirely untrue that Canadians lack a sense of humour, the funniest ones tend to head south: Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, Michael J. Fox.”

“'Sir' Richard Branson may be the Julian Assange of British business, in that both believe the world revolves around them. Hence Branson's decision to set up an air service between Manchester and London, above the route of the train line that's been taken from him.”

“Some government expenditure actually makes a profit. Our theatre leads the world. Loads of tourists must be attracted by the fact that you could spend a week in London doing nothing but visit superb museums and galleries, free.”

“Poor Harper Seven Beckham, having to live with that name all her life. It's the Boy Named Sue syndrome; at the very least it will toughen her up.”

“I have a character failing. I am quite incapable of identifying with anything whole-heartedly. Whatever I am doing, I am always planning to do something else. I would rather travel than arrive.”

“There's something about the idea of writing, and thinking about writing as a form of prayer - the way as a writer you call out into the world and throw your words into the world. You're not praying to a god, but you're almost conjuring a reader to arrive. That's what books do: they're an invitation to readers.”

“Some people say I run too much, and by the time I arrive in front of goal, when I have to provide the finish, I am tired. But this is just my way of playing. I need to do this to score goals.”

“When I arrive people don't know me very well, but it's about the work we do and the way the team play.”

“I just arrive, they hand me a script and say, do it.”

“When I'm in a lift it's completely terrifying, but irrationally so. I'm shaking from head to toe waiting for it to arrive, standing with other people queuing to get in the lift and thinking, 'You have no idea how terrified I am.'”