I came home after a year and although my profession was only hairdressing I knew I could change it.

In the later books I am much more at home in the use of language to describe things. I had never thought of that until a critic pointed that out.

The thing about being at home versus being out in the world working is it's a whole different vibe. When I'm home with my kids and partner I will cook - even though she's a very good cook. She's learned over the years. We started with basics you know how to saute onions how to saute mushrooms.

Oh stuff the critics. I don't care. Too many people are snooty about classical. Look I wasn't brought up in a home where we listened to classical music. It was a singing teacher that thought it would be best for my voice. Then I moved into crossover. And if that makes the music accessible to more people then great.

Spare a thought for the poor introverts among us. In a world of party animals and glad-handers they're the ones who stand by the punch bowl. In a world of mixers and pub crawls they prefer to stay home with a book. Everywhere around them cell phones ring and e-mails chime and they just want a little quiet.

I'm a firm believer that lighting affects mood and twinkly lights on strings bring something magical to occasions ranging from concerts to weddings though I'm fond of using them as year-round home decor. There's a reason why they're sometimes called fairy lights. When the night is right there aren't any strings at all.

Most of the time I liked school and got good grades. In junior high though I hit a stumbling block with math - I used to come home and cry because of how frustrated I was! But after a few good teachers and a lot of perseverance I ended up loving math and even choosing it as a major when I got to college.

In the theatre people talk. Talk talk until the cows come home about journeys of discovery and about what Hazlitt thought of a line of Shakespeare. I can't stand it.

Your home is regarded as a model home your life as a model life. But all this splendor and you along with it... it's just as though it were built upon a shifting quagmire. A moment may come a word can be spoken and both you and all this splendor will collapse.

Although I have lived in London I have never really considered London my home because it was always going to be a stopping-off point for me and it has been too.

A happy home is one in which each spouse grants the possibility that the other may be right though neither believes it.

Sometimes in the past when I played something might make me lose focus or I would go home after a game where I thought I could have played better and I would let it hang over my head for a long time when it shouldn't.

Playing drums feels like coming home for me. Even during the White Stripes I thought: 'I'll do this for now but I'm really a drummer.' That's what I'll put on my passport application.

In high school a teacher once suggested that I be a math major in college. I thought 'Me? You've got to be joking!' I mean in junior high I used to come home and cry because I was so afraid of my math homework. Seriously I was terrified of math.

Students never think it can be the teacher's fault and so I thought I was stupid. I was frustrated and would come home and cry because I couldn't do it. Then we got a new teacher who made math accessible. That made all the difference and I learned that it's how you present it that makes it scary or friendly.

I've always thought my soundtracks do pretty good because they're basically professional equivalents of a mix tape I'd make for you at home.

My father probably thought the capital of the world was wherever he was at the time. It couldn't possibly be anyplace else. Where he and his wife were in their own home that for them was the capital of the world.

In my early 20s I studied history and politics and I really thought that perhaps I would devote my life to that.

A year is an eternity in politics - though less than a moment in history.

I thought I had to make an impact on history. I had to become the greatest choreographer of my time. That was my mission. Posterity deals with us however it sees fit. But I gave it 20 years of my best shot.

It's a huge challenge a huge responsibility. Bond is a huge iconic figure in movie history. These opportunities don't come along very often so I thought 'Why not?'

If I were beginning my career today I don't think I would take the same direction. Television is at a crossroads at the moment. And although I am not up to date technologically I suspect that somewhere out there people are conveying things about natural history by means other than television and I think if I were beginning today I'd be there.

The history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what it finds.

I thought that all of the sacrifices and blessings of the whole history of mankind have devolved upon me. Thank you God.