“I believe that there is a great fear in our generation of being labeled as priggish.”

For me, heaven is likely to be a bit of a come-down.

The lessons from the peace process are clear; whatever life throws at us, our individual responses will be all the stronger for working together and sharing the load.

I should like to be a horse.

I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.

The upward course of a nation’s history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.

You need to learn to stand up for yourself and what you believe and sometimes, pardon my language, kick some ass.

Football’s a difficult business and aren’t they prima donnas. But it’s a wonderful game.

For Christians, as for all people of faith, reflection, meditation and prayer help us to renew ourselves in God’s love, as we strive daily to become better people.

To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all.

The Christmas message shows us that this love is for everyone. There is no one beyond its reach.

True patriotism doesn’t exclude an understanding of the patriotism of others.

Family does not necessarily mean blood relatives but often a description of a community, organisation or nation.

Grief is the price we pay for love.

Cowards falter, but danger is often overcome by those who nobly dare.

I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else.

The British Constitution has always been puzzling and always will be.

It labels us, affords us kudos, and raises our profile in the “pecking order” of our fellow troglodytes. It says to others, “See, I’ve done so well that I can afford to do nothing at all whenever I so choose!

I’m selling more records on my own than I did on major labels.

At a major label you can start to feel that you’re working for them, and that any work you do, you’re never going to see any benefit.

I feel the same way about all my friends. To me, the exact relationship between me and someone else doesn’t matter much. But people want to label everything… So I guess I seem indifferent in that way.

White folks always think that you have to have a label on everything – you know what I mean?

They want to sign distribution deals with labels, who have lots of product, lots of artists.

Knowing record labels and knowing the kinds of things they would object to-they just object to everything that’s interesting.

If you’re an artist trying to put out your own record on your own label, it’s hard to get a distribution deal because no one wants to sign a deal with one entity.