"That is my major preoccupation, memory, the kingdom of memory. I want to protect and enrich that kingdom, glorify that kingdom and serve it."

“Personally, I need a high level of physical fitness in order to feel at ease.”

Source : "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

“Only in Washington would death be considered a taxable event. [a cynical but perhaps fair assessment]”

“I'm not ashamed of being gay, never have been and never will be. For that I have no apologies”

“Nothing can be meaner than the anxiety to live on, to live on anyhow and in any shape; a spirit with any honor is not willing to live except in its own way, and a spirit with any wisdom is not over-eager to live at all.”

“When I first met him [David Beckham] I didn't know whether to shake his hand or lick his face.”

“Life is a sheet of paper white / Whereon each one of us may write / His word or two, and then comes night.”

“People write fiction in their minds all the time - every time we read a 'human interest' news story, or a true crime tale, we find ourselves fascinated because we're trying to understand why people behave the way they do, why they make the choices they do, how we become who we become.”

Source : Interview with Jennifer Haupt, www.psychologytoday.com. February 15, 2012.

“I like gardening - it's a place where I find myself when I need to lose myself.”

Source : "Above and beyond". Interview with Katharine Viner, www.theguardian.com. August 23, 2002.