My mum called me scatty because I could never sit still. But there was no sense I was suffering from a medical condition as such.

Multimedia? As far as I'm concerned, it's reading with the radio on!

Politics now is rather like going into Starbucks for a coffee.

In a more intellectually rigorous age, I wouldn't be talked about as a satirist at all. I would just be a topical comedian.

It is almost impossible to say the name of Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawat without adding 'give a dog a bone'

When you consider what Tony Blair was saying about liberty, human rights and that sort of thing, it would be terribly revolutionary to sell the speeches he and Jack Straw made in 1994.

I had an Edinburgh, middle-class childhood and a public school education.

Now I'm instantly nervous about the demands of doing a weekly column.

I am just fascinated by this reassurance from a menacing figure. It is rather frightening.

Tony Blair has always said he will be judged by history. Now Alastair Campbell is history we await his judgment.

I used to do my Nelson Mandela voice to blag restaurant tables in Cape Town. It rarely worked. Now what a great city that is.

Lord, You made us and gave us breath. May we do justice, love and mercy, and walk honorably before you this day. By the precious name of Jesus, I ask for your help to do this. Amen.

It did no good to cry, she had learned that early on.

Why is it only now that I can see how many ordinary things are actually grotesque?

Those who say that money can’t buy you love make it sound as if love can buy you money.

I have no doubt that the Palestinian Arab leadership made a mistake when it did not accept the partition plan in 1947, but I want to try to understand it.

Fast tempo is essential for success; do it, fix it, try it!

[On her dogs:] I have four now. My friends tell me if I get any more they'll have to hold an intervention.

A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses.

... the ancient joy of helping the tribe to survive is constantly rekindled in the engineer's heart.

Let your mind wander in the pure and simple. Be one with the infinite. Let all things take their course.