"We have to do a film parody for Comic Relief. We can't decide which film to parody at the moment. Any ideas welcome, but not Spiderman owing to costume being too tight."

"When I wrote 'Dear Fatty,' I realised that sitting and writing alone is an absolute joy."

"I'll always be a fat girl and I am happy with that."

"My daughter couldn't care less about me being famous. She finds it revolting and, like a lot of teenagers, is virtually allergic to me. That started at 12 and hasn't gone anywhere yet."

"I'm constantly astounded by how amazing women are. And as we go through all these different stages of life as long as you share them with others and say, 'Well, this is bloody weird', you can get through everything."

"I think of myself now as a writer, although I wouldn't go as far as to say 'novelist' because that sounds like a Victorian person."

"My best friend is the most important girl, outside of family, to me. I met her when I went to college and we bonded immediately. I'd do anything for her at any time. We phone each other every day."

"Why would I worry about getting older - what's to moan about?"

"Why would I worry about getting older - what's to moan about?"

"Other than my memory being a bit woolly and my knees being a bit creaky, I don't really think there's anything I can't do."

"For me, whatever age or size I've been, I have rather liked myself. The shell is not the thing at all."

"I've never disliked myself, and my weight has had nothing to do with my self-esteem."

"I'm not a big drinking person and hardly ever have alcohol. Perhaps it's not sweet enough for my sweet tooth."

"It was my father who taught me to value myself. He told me that I was uncommonly beautiful and that I was the most precious thing in his life."

"That's the weird thing about not being married - you can't get regular kissing; you can't be guaranteed of it, and that's a great shame."

"I love it when somebody makes me laugh - it's what attracts me to people."

"I don't know what the future holds, but I have to be confident about it. It's just the way I am."

"I've chosen to stay in a jolly place for most of my life, and that is a lot of who I am."

"I do think you are supposed to go through wars with your child because otherwise the tearing apart that has to happen when they go off to lead their own life would be unbearable."

"I am a rubbish flirt."

"....get a move on, pal, life goes on happening while you're hiding...."

"I have had the unfortunate experience of having someone write an unauthorised biography of me. Half of it is lies and the other half is badly written. My feeling is that if I'm going to write my life story, I ought to have my life first."

"I have turned away from the thought of writing fiction in the past through what I suppose is, actually, fear. The direct, raw invitation for the reader to come in and explore my imagination is fairly scary for me so I have busied myself with so much else."

"Turning 50 can be difficult, sometimes dangerous, for women. The danger is in that blip that can come from the fact that you become invisible, and if you're not careful and don't embrace that, it can trip you up and you lose confidence."

"Good people are happy when something good happens to someone else."

"If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you'll die a lot of times."

"Basketball is a team game. But that doesn't mean all five players should have the same amount of shots."

"I'd never get elected if people in North Carolina realized how liberal I am."

"There is a point in every contest when sitting on the sidelines is not an option."

"I always mean what I say, but I don't always say what I'm thinking."

"I think the real free person in society is one that's disciplined. It's the one that can choose; that is the free one."

"Given the fact that we are in a capitalist society, we still do not want to overlook not only what a corporation produces and its profitability but also how it impacts the environment, touches human life and whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person."

"I do believe in praising that which deserves to be praised."

"The presidents of colleges have to have some courage to step forward. You can't limit alcohol in college sports, you have to get rid of it."

"I know a lawyer who'd love to retire and be an assistant coach. I mean, it's fun."

"The best way to stop the problem of agents would be for the NCAA to come down hard and suspend a school for two years if it finds players with agents on campus."

"You should never be proud of doing the right thing. You should just do it."

"I'd like to see the high schools put in a rule that limits recruitable athletes from playing on teams outside a 100-mile radius from their home or school."

"I just think we shouldn't get into counting coaches' records. I've never been for that... but I know that's just American society."

"Our teachers at the public school level are the most underpaid for the importance of their job in America."

"I enjoy basketball. I enjoy coaching basketball. It's the out-of-season stuff I didn't handle well."

"Basketball is a beautiful game when the five players on the court play with one heartbeat."

"As soon as you try to describe a close friendship, it loses something."

"What do do with a mistake: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it."

"A leader's job is to develop committed followers. Bad leaders destroy their followers' sense of commitment."

"I only use statistics to reinforce what I already think, or if it's something unusual."

"Play hard. Play smart. Play together."

"If you make every game a life-and-death thing, you’re going to have problems. You’ll be dead a lot."

"If you do what we ask you to do, the victories will belong to you, and the losses to me."

"I wasn't as critical during games as I was at practice. Players needed confidence during games more than criticism."