Michael Palin

“Despite having seen a fair amount of the world, I still love travelling - I just have an insatiable curiosity and like looking out of a window.”

“Contrary to what the politicians and religious leaders would like us to believe, the world won't be made safer by creating barriers between people.”

“I was very bad at projecting my voice. I used to do this Gumby Flower Arranging sketch which involved shouting, and I could never do it right, and at one point my voice went completely.”

“I have been unusually blessed in that I've been allowed to pursue two strands of a career that both delight me and seem to please the public.”

“You don't ask people about the immigration policies of the U.K. or their country's agricultural policy. Instead, you talk to them about the meal they're eating or their family, and from that you get the sense of another human being, someone we can all relate to.”

“I've never particularly liked travelling with large groups or being told where to go by somebody else. I prefer to find out for myself.”

“I got my first lifetime achievement award years ago, and I was very excited, but then I got a sense of: Well, can one get a second lifetime award?”

“I think some of the best modern writing comes now from travellers.”

“I'm not good at confrontation. I know my strengths. I like company. And I am not a great arguer... I do find it much easier talking to people I like about things we both like.”

“It was a strange feeling going into a church I did not know for a service that I did not really believe in, but once inside I couldn't help a feeling of warmth and security. Outside there were wars and road accidents and murders, striptease clubs and battered babies and frayed tempers and unhappy marriages and people contemplating suicide and bad jokes, but once in St. Martin's there was peace. Surely people go to church not to involve themselves in the world's problems but to escape from them.”

“One of the most important days of my life was when I learned to ride a bicycle.”

“I'm not your expert on Africa or animals or whatever. I'm not a travel writer or maker of documentaries. I was someone who doesn't know very much, trying to communicate.”

“People are still crazy about Python after twenty-five years, which I find hard to believe.”

“I do have high standards. I look at everything I have done and think, 'Why wasn't that better?' Part of my motivation is from crippling self-doubt - I have got to prove myself wrong.”

“I would love to go to Iran. The island of Madagascar, everyone says is pretty exotic, or the wonderful Namibian desert.”

“My parents have been married forty-two years. I wonder how many of those were happy.”

“'Nice' means nothing. Is it someone who doesn't swear and shout? I swear and shout. 'Nice' sounds ineffectual.”

“Please don't ask which I enjoy more - acting or hosting - because I love them equally.”

“People say the most stupid things on the spur of the moment that they then have to retract.”

“Fame changes everything. When you're well-known, you're expected to be different. Some people assume you must have a yacht and four homes. Or that you're famous because you are 'A Decent Man'.”