David Furnish

“I can't say to Elton, 'Hey, let's walk around the corner and have a coffee.' Someone as well-known as that can't go anywhere in the world without being recognised. Elton has written the soundtrack to a lot of people's lives, so they feel a kinship with him, so they come up, and that does colour things.”

“When you get the high art of William Shakespeare and the greatest love story ever told, and you collision crash it with the low art of the tacky garden gnome, you're going to have lots and lots of opportunity for fun and putting your tongue very firmly in your cheek.”

“I am for 100% equality across the board for everybody, in all walks of life.”

“It's very important in any relationship that one partner doesn't lose themselves in the other, and that's very easy if you're involved with a celebrity.”

“I haven't done much art shopping in Vegas. It tends to be from galleries that are London- or L.A.- or New York-based. We've never had someone standing over our shoulder telling us something is a good investment.”

“When 1.2 million people come together for Pride in Toronto, that's great, but we now need to start paying it forward and thinking about the rest of the world.”

“I love diamond jewellery on men, and pocket scarves, cravats, cufflinks. The trick is to throw it together so it's natural and not contrived. That's real style.”

“The reality is, if a woman is married to man with a title, she gets a title. I think everybody should have the same opportunities and the same privileges and the same honours.”

“I'm a great pop culture lover, and I'm not a snob.”

“My parents have been married for 50-plus years, and I wanted to have what they had.”

“We all live by example.”

“I've had many friends over the years who have been in same-sex relationships, and the family denies hospital visitations when one is sick. Or when the estate is settled and people who have built a life together has everything taken away from them either by the families or the taxman.”

“One of the reasons Elton and I entered into our partnership - the first day it became legal in Britain to do so - is that we felt it was an opportunity to protect ourselves with official recognition of our relationship.”

“You have to acknowledge that films that have a strong concept and are easily marketed to people are the ones that stand the biggest chance of success.”

“Knowing your HIV status is so important for your future health and that of your loved ones.”

“It's interesting how Rod Stewart can father a child at 65, and a straight, single footballer named Cristiano Ronaldo can arrange to have a surrogate have a baby, and neither of them receives any criticism.”

“Animation films are about entertainment and about fun for the whole family, and if you went too far down a dark path, it's not what people, I think, expect from a great animated film.”

“I was definitely teased and bullied in my junior school.”

“Everyone should be tested. Whenever they have a check-up, they should test for HIV, because if we can get to a point in our society where everyone is automatically tested, nobody will fall through the net.”

“Kids will often see something different and feel insecure about it because they don't understand it.”