Jeremy Paxman

Scepticism is a necessary and vital part of the journalist's toolkit. But when scepticism becomes cynicism it can close off thought and block the search for truth.

Why are we in this mess, now facing the prospect of economic armageddon? It's because the prevailing characteristic has been greed, and it doesn't matter whether it's individuals living beyond their means or governments living beyond their means or people seeking to get rich quick.

I've always felt myself to be an outsider. I've always felt awkward.

One's teachers all belonged to that generation who were imperialists, and the whole narrative throughout my adolescence was of countries leaving the empire. I find it extraordinary that this purpose which drove how we viewed the world is now considered to be something that has no effect upon us.

The cure for cynicism is simply to engage honestly.

It seems to me that the way to remove people's cynicism is, when asked a straight question, to give a straight answer.

The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese.

It's stupid to have a simple-minded view.

The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

I've always thought you have to live life looking forwards, not backwards. I've had no interest at all in who my ancestors are.

Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in Britain. I find that very depressing.

I hate the word 'sneering', I can't help the way my face looks.

I find it odd that people take me seriously.

The English approach to ideas is not to kill them, but to let them die of neglect.

The early bird may get the worm, but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese.

I got fed up of listening to bollocks

Its stupid to have a simple minded view.

The idea of a tax on the ownership of a television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil?

At work people are expected to be at the beck and call of employers all the time. You have blackberries and other things, and they just don't leave you alone. People have less time just to drop into an art gallery.

I've spent my whole life being told I have a face like a horse. You are just what you are, aren't you?

It's not just politicians. Any spokesman for a vested interest is well schooled in how to say what it is they wish to say, which may bear no relation at all to what you've asked them.