Terry Jones

“We think of medieval England as being a place of unbelievable cruelty and darkness and superstition. We think of it as all being about fair maidens in castles, and witch-burning, and a belief that the world was flat. Yet all these things are wrong.”

“It doesn't worry me what anyone says, except when publicity hurts others.”

“Ah! The English language was a wonderful thing! You could always find the right word. He only wished he could speak the language.”

“The funny thing about history is that we imagine that people didn't laugh in the old days, but of course they did, at stupid things.”

“I've got a soft spot for Theatr Colwyn because my granddad used to run the Colwyn amateur dramatic society in the 1930s.”

“I'd always thought that if Python was going to go on at all, it'd be nice to get into storylines.”

“Fatherhood is wonderful.”

“I don't think people who have children are acting selfishly or unselfishly. Having a child who'll be loved, to parents who love each other, is the important thing.”

“I'm cheerfully optimistic about life. Optimism is very important!”

“Medieval learning was really advanced.”

“I'm a good cook; one of my specialities is reindeer and potato pie.”

“Some people are passionate about aisles, others about window seats.”

“You know, I've never thought of myself as a comedian.”

“I've been very lucky to have been able to act, write and direct and not have to choose just the one thing.”

“What really alarms me about President Bush's 'War on Terrorism' is the grammar. How do you wage war on an abstract noun? How is 'Terrorism' going to surrender? It's well known, in philological circles, that it's very hard for abstract nouns to surrender.”

“I'd like something that peels potatoes really quickly - that would be wonderful.”

“I like my stories once removed.”

“I don't think you need religion.”

“I like fantasy.”

“Every age sort of has its own history. History is really the stories that we retell to ourselves to make them relevant to every age. So we put our own values and our own spin on it.”