When I was first approached about doing an autobiography, I said, 'absolutely not.' But when I sat down, memories came pouring out. It wrote very quickly - I think there was an emotional impulse, because once I started in, the story itself carried me along. It was a very intense writing period and took a year and change to finish.

It's important always to have a sense of wonder.

I think everybody encounters difficulty. It's just more pitched in some people.

Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

I still carry the residue of the pressure I felt as a child to read and appreciate the right books. Growing up, I never allowed myself to read beach reading. I was always plowing through Ford Madox Ford's 'Good Solider' or something I wasn't equipped to understand.

In the music world, ageism is a big issue. It's about youth and youth culture. There's no other art form that I know that requires you to be a certain age.

I don't think there should be more gun control. I think there should be more education.

We say arts education is good for general education, but that's not the point. The arts are what great nations are remembered for. They are a mirror.