“My father used to describe how he’d love going, early in the morning, out on a location and waiting for the trucks to arrive and the circus to come to town. That’s what it’s like, every day, when you’re making a film. It’s the magic.”

We just try to make the best film we can, each time, and hope that we satisfy the fans. I’m sure, with Skyfall, that we will. I think it’s a terrific film. I hope the audiences enjoy it, as much as we’ve enjoyed making it.

There’s a lot of instant spotlight and pressure when it comes to a Bond song.

I guess the reality is, everybody today has so many gadgets.

It’s a privilege. It’s a real honor. It’s a challenge. Michael and I always feel we stand on tall shoulders when we make these films. Audiences come to them with a lot of good will because of what’s come before.

When men change, maybe Bond will change.

And they stuck to their guns and fought for Sean Connery, and they were right to fight for Sean Connery. If it wasn’t for Sean Connery, we wouldn’t all be here. I was raised to fight for what I believed in, so I wasn’t going to give up.

I cannot even remember a time before being conscious of James Bond.

I wanted Daniel Craig, and Michael wanted Daniel Craig, so we just stuck to our guns. Fortunately, we had the right management who really stuck with us. Thanks to that, we got our choice. He’s been an extraordinary Bond, and he is very much the right Bond for the 21st century.

I think Bond the character is distinct: He’s British, he has a certain code that he lives by, he’s incorruptible… he’s a classical hero, but he’s also fallible. He has inner demons, inner conflicts, and he’s a romantic.

So as I was growing up, my father was always in the middle of making a film or preparing a film. It was a full-time, all-consuming type of operation.

One would think that it would be very easy, with an iconic character like James Bond, to keep making the films, but it hasn’t been. But, it sure has been entertaining and rewarding.

I still love it, every day. I get up and I love going to work. I love seeing it all happen, and I admire the people that we work with. I just hope that the films will continue to entertain audiences, as they have done for 50 years.

The paparazzi terrify and torment people and endanger people and it’s really unpleasant.

Every 20 minutes you’ve got to have a bump, you’ve got to have a change in course, you’ve got to unsettle the audience. It can’t be too predictable so something has to happen. I think that was something that Hitchcock did very well too. You couldn’t let an audience feel too settled in.

It’s been such a huge part of my life, it’s hard for me to separate it out. All I can say is that I had an extraordinary childhood. I was around these amazing people and went to exotic locations. The whole movie-making thing is so magical.

Never give up, have the passion. Don’t be afraid.

No beer before 5 p.m., wait… did I just say that?

There is no doctrine will do good where nature is wanting.

Perhaps I need some shattering experience to awaken and inspire me, or at least to give me some emotion to recollect in tranquility. But how to get it? Sit here and wait for it or go out and seek it? . . . I expect it will be sit and wait.

I found very early on when I became a hip-hop artist that I loved telling stories. Actually, when I was trying to get a message across it was more powerful when I told a story, rather than if I used a metaphor or if I preached about an issue.

I could not wait for the sun to come up the next morning so that I could get out on the course again.

No collection of people who are all waiting for the same thing are capable of holding a natural conversation. Even if the thing they are waiting for is only a taxi.

Create your own path and stop waiting for things to come your way. The longer you wait, the further others go.

You can only get next to God through the effort of preparation. To experience the uncreated, the state of awareness will have to be held for several minutes. You are then between time and the time-less – waiting for the unknown, which will come but cannot be willed.