And I understand that, I testified in closed hearings over eight years because there are intelligence matters, there are sensitive matters that should not be held in a public hearing.

Collecting intelligence information is like trying to drink water out of a fire hydrant. You know, in hindsight It's great. The problem is there's a million dots at the time.

I wanted all my visits to be official. When I sent the pass back with a note, I had no idea it would antagonize the president. I found out years later that it did.

I have always said to myself, 'I never want to say I'm leaving a job because I want to spend more time with my family.' I feel sorry for people when they say that. But my advice to them is that you shouldn't have taken the job in the first place.

When I started writing the screenplay for 'The Queen,' about the aftermath of the death of Princess Diana, both Stephen Frears, the director, and Andy Harries, the producer, begged me not to put Tony Blair in it.

He who would acquire fame must not show himself afraid of censure. The dread of censure is the death of genius.

What's upsetting about an autobiography is that the final chapter is always missing. I mean, you want the death, don't you?

A safe life includes following your dreams with the full knowledge that doing so is not, in any way, shape or form, safe in the traditional meaning of the word. Because living safely means dying without too many regrets. That is safe.