So I went into government with a clear mind about what the problems were, and what needed to be done.

Investment banking has, in recent years, resembled a casino, and the massive scale of gambling losses has dragged down traditional activities as banks try to rebuild their balance sheets.

Our workforce is very co-operative, very flexible, easy to work with and one of the big selling points. The idea that Britain is still back in the labour market of the '70s is utterly bizarre.

The government increasingly resembles somebody who is trying to give the kiss of life to a corpse.

And humility in politics means accepting that one party doesn't have all the answers; recognising that working in partnership is progress not treachery.

The degree of leverage now being reversed is on a staggering scale, and the underlying global imbalances – notably between the savers and the spenders – will require long and painful adjustment.

I made friends with a boy who was a communist when I was 13 and that broadened my political views, but it also brought me into conflict with my father who was very Right-wing.

If the pendulum swings, it may swing to a combination of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and, thus, to a period of minority government or coalition, in some form.

When I was a child we were sufficiently well off for me to be a picky eater and I still cannot eat vegetables cooked in the traditional British manner.

I don't feel comfortable with luxury, and I try to stay fairly normal.

The House has noticed the Prime Minister's remarkable transformation in the past few weeks, from Stalin to Mr. Bean.

Don't you ever mind, " she asked suddenly, "not being rich enough to buy all the books you want?

The opinion of the majority or the minority is of no importance! The important thing is the opinion of the Truth, of the Reason, of the Logic, of the High Intelligence!

I'll have to as you say take a stand do something toward shaking up that system. ... Despair ... is too easy an out.

One has to adopt a sort of Zen calm, in which you know you wrote the best book that you could at the time.

When we lived in Juneau, Alaska, it was a town of about 7,000 people, and totally isolated; the only way to get to it was by ship.

The money pigs of capitalist democracy: Money has made slaves of us. Money is the curse of mankind. It smothers the seed of everything great and good. Every penny is sticky with sweat and blood.

My father was an amateur filmmaker who shot 8mm color documentaries.

For sure, the funeral industry seems intensely cynical to me and I don't think it is HELPING people mourn.

Young guys don't tend to want to portray people who have frailties or are less than macho.

If you can win complete mastery over self, you will easily master all else. To triumph over self is the perfect victory.