“Men look like pandas when they try and put make-up on.”

Achievement results from work realizing ambition.

I want to do a make-up line for men.

I watched Picasso visit the Planet of the Apes, as the masters rot on walls and the angels eat the grapes.

I loved being in a band.

People tend to keep their distance.

I like being infamous. I think it is safe being a cult.

I have loved eight women in my life. I remember every woman’s face.

I could be religious, if they sang the hymns to disco.

If you make a mistake, you should enjoy it.

I just became a vegetable for three months. I couldn’t talk to people. I was very ill and that was part of the reason I left college.

Cause people lose it, they lose it – they say: ‘I like that, and that’s not this.’

Bipolar disorder, manic depression, depression, black dog, whatever you want to call it, is inherent in our society. It’s a product of stress and in my case over-work.

I’m a punk rocker. I don’t do Christian.

There is always room at the top, don’t let them tell you there is not.

I wanted to make good records. But my problem is I’ve got a low boredom threshold, so I wanted it to look and sound different with each album, which is really tantamount to suicide

I’ve been told I sold 110m albums and singles. If that’s the case, I should’ve come here in a space rocket.

I don’t ever remember them telling us or teaching us that the only way we could be more successful is if other people were less successful. They never inculcated the belief that somehow, in order for us to climb the ladder, other people have to come down from the ladder.

Only love makes fruitful the soul.

Do we need to have a female Bond? Couldn’t we just make something new?

I don’t profess to be a political rapper, like groups such as ‘Dead Prez’ or ‘Public Enemy’, but I think social commentary should make its way into your music. Speaking on your neighbourhood is social commentary – what happens, what’s going on.

Make all men equal to-day, and God has so created them that they shall be all unequal to-morrow.

I hope my books make statements about our general condition.

When a person knows and can’t make the others understand, what does he do?

I talk about life, and I make universal music with an American style – and that’s what I do.