The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.

Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it.

Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.

I was quite able at the insignificant work I did in MI6, but absolutely dysfunctional in my domestic life. I had no experience of fatherhood. I had no example of marital bliss or the family unit.

By the time we hit fifty, we have learned our hardest lessons. We have found out that only a few things are really important. We have learned to take life seriously, but never ourselves.

I really try to make smart choices about my fashion and really live a life on the carpet that's the same as the life I live normally.

One of the most important things that I have learned in my 57 years is that life is all about choices. On every journey you take, you face choices. At every fork in the road, you make a choice. And it is those decisions that shape our lives.