I think when you’ve lost an election by 179, there’s going to be a period of time after eighteen years in government when you can’t do anything right, and people just kick you for the sake of it, will never admit they voted Conservative.
When I was three, I wanted to be four. When I was four, I wanted to be prime minister.
Never be frightened by those you assume have more talent than you do, because in the end energy will prevail. My formula is: energy plus talent and you are a king; energy and no talent and you are still a prince; talent and no energy and you are a pauper.
While there may not be a book in every one of us, there is so often a damned good short story.
Are parents always more ambitious for their children than they are for themselves?
I feel I have had a very interesting life, but I am rather hoping there is still more to come. I still haven’t captained the England cricket team, or sung at Carnegie Hall!
Whenever you analyse anyone who has had any success and they’re in the headlines, you will find they are human and make mistakes. I’m certainly that and I’ve made a lot of mistakes.
Time spent on preparation is seldom wasted.
Sixty per cent of people entering prison today are illiterate.
There are defining moments in one’s life when you learn about yourself, and you deposit that knowledge in the experience account, so you can draw on it at some later date.
No time like the present.
I find I don’t learn a lot while I’m talking.
A strong man who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength.
The worst moment of any campaign is waiting for the sun to rise on the morning of the battle.
I want to be your stranger across a crowded room.
Well I think after leaving prison, and having written three diaries about life in prison, it became a sort of a new challenge to write another novel, to write a new novel.
Birth is life’s first lottery ticket.
I wrote a million words in the first year, and I could never have done that outside of prison.
Who Saddam Hussein kills, dies.
I’ve loved art for more than 30 years.