When I did 'Amadeus,' I hadn't done a play for five years. And I was so happy doing it and felt so foolish that I hadn't done a play for such a long time that I wanted to go back and really kind of reach out for a classical career.

I want to establish a wide range and play all kinds of parts. It's that sort of acting career I really respect. I like to turn a sharp left from whatever I've done before because that keeps me awake. That's why I want to be an actor - I don't want to play endless variations on one character.

Kids will eat anything, won't they?

My interests and obsessions have always been so wide-ranging that I keep popping my head out of different boxes as much as possible.

It is doubtless true that men are bad because they are unhappy. If anyone could give them real happiness, the happiness of brotherhood, they would all want to live the true and brotherly life.

It is a joy to be an artist, but it doesn't mean very much unless that work is somehow useful in some way and contributes to others.

Happiness is not something you achieve. It's not something you do or someplace you get to. Happiness is something you inhabit.

My books are about ordinary people, like you, me, people on the street, people who really have an expectation of reasonable happiness in life, want their life to have a sense of security and predictability, who want to belong to something bigger than them, who want love and affection in their life, who want a good future for the children.