Tim Rice

“In the world of musical theatre, if everyone says it's a good idea, you wonder why nobody has done it before.”

“I went to religious schools. I wasn't that enthusiastic, by and large, but it sunk in.”

“I think failure is the best thing for some people. It tells you whether you're in the right job or the wrong one.”

“Two songs I like are 'High Flying Adored' and 'Another Suitcase Another Hall,' both from 'Evita.'”

“We all dream a lot - some are lucky, some are not. But if you think it, want it, dream it, then it's real. You are what you feel.”

“And all the good you've done will soon be swept away, You've begun to matter more than the things you say.”

“I must have written 15 lyrics for 'The Lion King,' and only five or six were used. Some were scenes that disappeared, some were earlier versions of songs that didn't work, or else the characters changed.”

“I always think 'Pity the Child' is a goodie. And I've always liked a song called 'Heaven Help My Heart,' which is quite a corny number.”

“I hate doing interviews. I get really bored talking about me.”

“I would love to write a song with the Everly brothers. But it's probably best not to work with someone you admire: they'll just show up your inadequacies.”

“To find a new British composer who is really good is rare.”

“When I went to do law, I kind of drifted through that and thought, 'I can pass these exams.' And I didn't - I failed three times, and each time I did worse and failed by a bigger margin. And that taught me so much.”

“I love trains. I don't even mind First Great Western, which is a stupid name because it implies every carriage is first class, but they're not.”

“There is already huge public interest in stage musicals.”

“In the Bible, there is absolutely no motivation for Judas, other than that he is sort of a 100 percent figure of evil. And it seemed to me that that was probably not the case.”

“I would like to write a play.”

“There was so much on 'Superstar' that we didn't intend. I mean, there were things that we did which were innovative, but some of them were forced on us because we couldn't get anybody to do the show. 'Evita' was much more sophisticated. That doesn't make it better, but it does make it different. We knew what we were doing.”

“I do enjoy Singapore very much.”

“I love the history of popular music. I love to know what people are listening to, even if I don't like it.”

“Maintaining our standard; that's our challenge day-in and day-out.”