People's backyards are much more interesting than their front gardens, and houses that back on to railways are public benefactors.

I see houses that are maintained to different degrees, I see gardens that are maintained to different degrees, ... One of the things that I would look for would be a design that very quickly would reveal individual enthusiasm of individual residents. ... Anything monolithic can, if it's designed well, look less monolithic.

Too many people in the modern world view poetry as a luxury, not a necessity like petrol. But to me it's the oil of life.

It's much more interesting to watch someone who is ill-equipped to solve their problem fight to solve their problem than wallow in the knowledge that they're ill-equipped to solve their problems.

Self-righteousness has killed more people than smoking.

I have always found fact infinitely more interesting than myths and falsehoods.