Jeremy Paxman

“The idea of a tax on the ownership of a television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil?”

“I've spent my whole life being told I have a face like a horse. You are just what you are, aren't you?”

“I've always thought you have to live life looking forwards, not backwards. I've had no interest at all in who my ancestors are.”

“Scepticism is a necessary and vital part of the journalist's toolkit. But when scepticism becomes cynicism it can close off thought and block the search for truth.”

“At work people are expected to be at the beck and call of employers all the time. You have blackberries and other things, and they just don't leave you alone. People have less time just to drop into an art gallery.”

“One's teachers all belonged to that generation who were imperialists, and the whole narrative throughout my adolescence was of countries leaving the empire. I find it extraordinary that this purpose which drove how we viewed the world is now considered to be something that has no effect upon us.”

“It's not just politicians. Any spokesman for a vested interest is well schooled in how to say what it is they wish to say, which may bear no relation at all to what you've asked them.”

“The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.”

“Why are we in this mess, now facing the prospect of economic armageddon? It's because the prevailing characteristic has been greed, and it doesn't matter whether it's individuals living beyond their means or governments living beyond their means or people seeking to get rich quick.”

“I hate the word 'sneering', I can't help the way my face looks.”

“It seems to me that the way to remove people's cynicism is, when asked a straight question, to give a straight answer.”

“I've always felt myself to be an outsider. I've always felt awkward.”

“It's stupid to have a simple-minded view.”

“The English approach to ideas is not to kill them, but to let them die of neglect.”

“I find it odd that people take me seriously.”

“The cure for cynicism is simply to engage honestly.”

“Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in Britain. I find that very depressing.”