“The nature of how we are as human beings is that we’re much more interested in being critical rather than praising something.”

Even when I’m in quite a happy state of mind, I like writing really sad songs. I think a lot of people do.

Because I’ve always been a runner I love to feel that my body is shining on the inside. I wear baggy clothes, so it’s not as though I like showing it off. I just like to know I’m great on the inside.

Something funny always happens in every show in the UK and I genuinely love touring the UK because it’s where I’m from. I just get a warm feeling when I’m home.

The smallest changes, like I stopped eating meat and I’ve been doing different kinds of exercise like Yoga and stuff like that, little changes have made me feel a bit more at peace I think.

Men are wary of me because they know, by listening to my music, that a relationship with me will be quite deep.

It’s so important to take vitamins. People always get ill on tour because of the close proximity in the bus with everyone.

You get to a certain age and you can’t judge yourself on your dad or your parents.

I was quite a weird kid because I didn’t like getting presents. I don’t know why. I just went for books all the time.

I think hype is a good thing. You need it and it’ll teach you valuable things and you’ll grow stronger, which is what I’ve done.

I’d call what I do pop music, but it’s folky and electronic and it doesn’t really sound like much else.

I want to be safe in the knowledge that I can tour and play festivals for a long time. The main thing is that I want a good reputation as a live performer. If I have that, I’d be so happy.

I feel more confident if my makeup looks good.

I’m a bit of a like girly-girl, really, I like flowery stuff.

You can be the happiest you can be in a relationship but can have an urge to be with someone else. I know a lot of people that it has happened to.

I love prints of skulls and bones and have some taxidermy – a crow and a rabbit – to remind me of home. I like art and have a big portrait of Bjork.

You never know what to expect. You don’t just walk on and expect an amazing reaction.

As for myself, I met with as much success as I ever could have wanted. In other words, I was enthusiastically run-down by every critic of the period.

There is probably no hell for authors in the next world – they suffer so much from critics and publishers in this.

A lot of critics object to what I do, but I got into comedy to make people laugh, and I’ve always worked hard.

Abilities wither under criticism; they blossom under encouragement.

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most fools do. But it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.

Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.

No idea is above scrutiny. No idea whatsoever. To criticize, to scrutinize and to satirize my own religion Islam is not Islamophobia.

To acquire true self power you have to feel beneath no one, be immune to criticism and be fearless.