The majority of the time I'm at home with my family, I play football three times a week.

When people meet me I think they're surprised to find out I'm not always angst-ridden.

I always hate explaining away songs, because for me they mean something, and for other people, they'll mean something absolutely different.

I lead two totally separate lives. There are times when I have to slip into rock star mode.

I will be the focal point for however long I decide to play. Half of me likes that idea and half of me doesn't, but once the adrenaline kicks in, I'll probably really enjoy it.

Anything that I write comes from the soul.

I don't think I've ever tried to be anything other than a weirdo.

I'm not advocating violence but I think somebody should shoot Simon Cowell.

It creates a conflict of interest - what songs would I use for me, and what would I use for the band.

I do a cover of a Velvet Underground song, and they were one of the most important bands, for me.

When I write love songs, people think they're really soppy - but I see love as a consolation for the boredom of life.

We can never live in the past

No personal consideration should stand in the way of performing a public duty.

I'd like to play for Newcastle United before I retire. The club is in my blood.

All the time, I've felt that life is a wager and that I probably was getting more out of leading a bohemian existence as a writer than I would have if I didn't.

I am for the art of underwear and the art of taxicabs. I am for the art of ice cream cones dropped on concrete.

I love my country. I love my family. And I have dedicated my life to both of them.

The anger of a meek man is like fire struck out of steel, hard to be got out, and when it is, soon gone.

All must yield to the weight of years; conquest is not difficult for time.

And as a child I was filled with passionate admiration for acts of civic courage I had seen performed by an elderly military doctor, who was a friend of my family.