Ricky Gervais

“I didn't know I was poor, growing up, because everyone was in the same boat. I couldn't have bikes. It never really bothered me, but I could have any book. I loved school; I loved learning. Yeah, I never cared for possessions. I still don't, really.”

“I'm a scientist at heart, so I know how important the truth is. However inconvenient, however unattractive, however embarrassing, however shocking, the truth is the truth, and wanting it not to be true doesn't change things.”

“I like grown-up comedy, where it's about character and attitude and life as opposed to obvious gross-out and jokes.”

“You can be watching the greatest film in the world, and if you hear your neighbor getting into a fight, you're at the window.”

“My dad was a laborer. And he used to get up at 5:30 every morning. He worked for 50 years of his life, in all weathers for, by showbiz standards, petty cash. I remind myself of that when I feel a little bit spoiled or hard done by.”

“Comedy is easy for me, but with drama, I don't know... it's still the Holy Grail.”

“It’s a strange myth that atheists have nothing to live for. It’s the opposite. We have nothing to die for. We have everything to live for.”

“Even on the stage, I've played a bit of a persona, and the persona I played was a much brasher, more arrogant, less aware, less educated version of me.”

“I am myself sometimes, and I do state my opinions, but not in a comedy routine and not in my character. There always has to be some sort of layer to it.”

“I could always take a joke. I could always be the butt of the joke. I could always hand it out. That was just who I was.”

“Science seeks the truth. And it does not discriminate. For better or worse it finds things out. Science is humble. It knows what it knows and it knows what it doesn’t know. It bases its conclusions and beliefs on hard evidence -­- evidence that is constantly updated and upgraded. It doesn’t get offended when new facts come along. It embraces the body of knowledge. It doesn’t hold on to medieval practices because they are tradition.”

“Oh, let's face it: I hate everything in others.”

“I remember asking my mum when I was about 13, 'Why are my brothers and sister so much older than me?' And she just said, 'You were a mistake.' And I laughed.”

“Stephen Merchant looks like a Muppet. I mean, he looks like Beaker.”

“I was very protective of my privacy. I didn't want people to write bad things about me that weren't true, because that's just not fair. Fifty percent of everything written about me is wrong.”

“When I was growing up, I didn't like cheese. I had to wean myself onto cheese.”

“I've avoided doing a network comedy, because I wouldn't get my own way. Even though it would get more viewers, it wouldn't be mine.”

“To be fair to David Brent, he wants to be famous for doing something, for being a musician, but he's just not good enough.”

“When I see a headline 'Guess who's going out with who?' I don't guess, and I don't click.”

“Proper stupidity is fascinating.”