I don't know which is stronger: the thrill of winning or the fear of failure. I don't know which one affects me most. I don't know where the middle is.

I think I'm skilful enough, but I don't consider myself a naturally talented, gifted sports person.

Essentially, I am a dreamer. I've dreamed all my life. When I started, I dreamed I'd be Champion because it is a sport that is all about the people who win the most, and I have a fear of not winning.

I have found the right way to deal with my diet, largely through trial and error, but also by having good people around me all the time, and they have given me the right advice for my body.

My first winner was on Legal Steps, in Ireland, at Thurles, in March 1992. I rode for Jim Bolger, and his stable jockey was Christy Roche.

Joy, I think, is the main fruit of the Spirit missing among Christians, and peace and self-control are the main fruits or qualities that seem to be missing among those who are not Christian.

She looked at me like I was stupid, the same look the girls in JC used to give me when I hadn’t heard of the latest boy band, or turned up at Zouk wearing unfashionable clothes.

I am still the sacred spiritual soul.

It is not actual suffering but the taste of better things which excites people to revolt.

Chemists have always been in the business of taking atoms and putting them together with other atoms with precisely defined connections.

Words were the only net to catch a mood, the only sure weapon against oblivion.

Words may deeply wound us, but we must run that risk to be free.

As you get older, you just lose that confidence and narcissism you have in your twenties. You realize you have less time on the planet, and you become cynical and less confident.

Failure is but the longer road to triumph.

Wizard's Second Rule The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.