Terry Jones

Medieval learning was really advanced.

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.

I like fantasy.

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.

I've never been good at improvising.

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!

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.

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.