Sometimes in films it's nice to have violins on either side, rather than on one side, so you've got more of a stereo picture with the violins. Sometimes it's good to have the basses in the middle.

You know, nobody eats in England. Three or four pints of English beer a night fills you. I can't say I'm very impressed with the food in America. it's all sort of bland. Like turkey sandwiches.

It's really the sound of the voices, the sound of the words, the sound of the sound that we're interested in.

I always think it's important to choose your initial theme very carefully because you're going to be married to it for a long time. You might have to generate an hour's worth of music from a very short, little piece of theme.

I think that music has an endless life.

Film scores are often based on short themes, and it helps if you've got some way of developing these themes and making them sometimes last 4 minutes and sometimes last 40 seconds. One ends up doing it subconsciously.

Obviously in Art of Noise, I'm just part of the group, and when I do film scores, it's always in collaboration with the director and other people involved.

Usually one or two things happen: Either you have an idea straightaway - the sort of sound that you want or the instrumentation or one particular sound that you want to feature - or you don't.

Sometimes in films it's nice to have violins on either side, rather than on one side, so you've got more of a stereo picture with the violins. Sometimes it's good to have the basses in the middle.

I wanted to make a classical piece that was actually designed to be a CD, not designed for performance.

My favorite work is The Full Monty because I got an Oscar for it. But it was really hard work at the time. Sometimes comedy is not a bundle of laughs to actually do.

We all shared an admiration of Debussy both as a musician and as sort of an icon for the 20th century. It seemed like an interesting idea to go right back 100 years to find the source of some new ideas now.

Composers are always going back to the past.

Our first remark on this subject is that the ministry is an office, and not merely a work.

I think it's so important as an actor that you hang on to your own inner compass, because so many people want to guide you - 'This is what you should you be doing'. But I want to do different things.

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

I never knowingly wanted to hurt anybody.

I couldn't get any of the ingenue roles when younger because at 5 feet 9 inches with a deep voice I was always too... genue. My career has completely happened since I was 29.

I did a gig at a comedy club in Bournemouth where they served a buffet while the acts were on. There was the clang of people carving turkey during the set. If you put comedy and turkey side by side, turkey always wins.

But theatre is always a difficult experience.

My mother is a tall woman - as is everyone in my family. At her prime, she stood 5 feet 9 inches, which is quite unusual for a woman born in 1922.

When deep down in the core of your being you believe that your soulmate exists, there is no limit to the ways he or she can enter your life.

Pulse as an active means of expression, Stravinsky and Beethoven are the two masters of that.

By failing to keep their end of the bargain, the Bush administration would allow New Jersey projects to deteriorate and make New Jersey highways and bridges less safe.

Don’t aim to be perfect. Aim to be antifragile.

Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart do not know how to laugh either.

I think New York audiences are some of the brightest in the world, and certainly the most enthusiastic.

We do do such a variety, especially if you consider all five records.

Ali helped raise black people in this country out of mental slavery. The entire experience of being black changed for millions of people because of Ali.

Multiply it by infinity and take it to the depths of forever and you will still have barely a glimpse of what Im talking about.

A survival tale peels away the niceties and comforts of civilization. Suddenly, all the technology and education in the world means nothing. I think all of us wonder while reading a survival tale, 'What would I have done in this situation? Would I have made it?'

It felt good doing a physical job, and going home each evening feeling like I had really done a day's work.

I love cooking for myself and cooking for my family.

You can't be a victim and heal.

I grew up in a Mauritian bubble in France... I had the feeling of not belonging, but still living with French culture.

When a medium like games or comic books whips up such a rapture of enthusiasm, naturally we look for lessons we should be learning.

I'm a little bit out of it, I suppose; I'm more of the golden oldie type.