“The older you get, the more you realise how happenstance has helped to determine your path through life.”

I like to juggle with one ball at a time. Then I put the ball down and do nothing for extended periods of time.

Mr. Bean is essentially a child trapped in the body of a man. All cultures identify with children in a similar way, so he has this bizarre global outreach.

I have always worried about things more than I should.

In TV, and in particular in commercials, you don’t really need to explain very much at all.

A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed.

Funny things tend not to happen to me. I am not a natural comic. I need to think about things a lot before I can be even remotely amusing.

I have always regarded Mr. Bean as a timeless, ageless character, and I would rather he be remembered as a character mostly in his 30s and 40s.

My personal problem is that I take the business of film-making so seriously that I find it very difficult to relax.

The clear problem of the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism, ridicule, sarcasm, merely stating an alternative point of view to the orthodoxy, can be interpreted as insult.

When I was doing Bean more than I’ve done him in the last few years, I did strange things – like appearing on chat shows in character as Mr. Bean.

I’m more critical of the films I make than anyone else.

But I always feel that whatever I do, I could do better. I suppose it is perfectionism.

Try to be creatively lead rather than market lead.

I think in many ways Johnny English is a more believable character.

Birthday meant to be another year to be Fabulous.

feel as though the camera is almost a kind of voyeur in Mr. Bean’s life, and you just watch this bizarre man going about his life in the way that he wants to.

The miracle of your existence calls for celebration every day.

Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.

When carrying a jar of honey to give to a friend for his birthday, don’t stop and eat it along the way.

The older you get, the stronger the wind gets and it’s always in your face.

Grown ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets.

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.

Time marches on and sooner or later you realize it is marching across your face.

You’ve got every right to a beautiful life.