John Cleese

The thrill I got discovering Buster Keaton when I was growing up was so exciting. He was one of the greats.

For me, the great problem growing up in England was that I had a very narrow concept of what God can be, and it was damn close to an old man with a beard.

The really good idea is always traceable back quite a long way, often to a not very good idea which sparked off another idea that was only slightly better, which somebody else misunderstood in such a way that they then said something which was really rather interesting.

I was always a sports nut but I've lost interest now in whether one bunch of mercenaries in north London is going to beat another bunch of mercenaries from west London.

I love having different cultures around, but when the parent culture kind of dissipates, you're left thinking, 'Well, what's going on?'

I think that money spoils most things, once it becomes the primary motivating force.

Most of the bad taste I've been accused of has been generic bad taste; it's been making fun of an idea as opposed to a person.

England is a fairly envious little country and it's embodied in the press. They don't like anyone being more distinguished than they are.

God was treated like this powerful, erratic, rather punitive father who has to be pacified and praised. You know, flattered.

But then acting is all about faking. We're all very good at faking things that we have no competence with.

I find it rather easy to portray a businessman. Being bland, rather cruel and incompetent comes naturally to me.

I would say that I began with a very edgy, very driven personality and after a sufficient amount of therapy over many, many years, I managed to become rather relaxed and happy.