I think the hard thing for young comedians is that the majority of the young people in the audience out there don't have the wide range of references.

I think that the real religion is about the understanding that if we can only still our egos for a few seconds, we might have a chance of experiencing something that is divine in nature.

I think there are so many activities going on, like mountaineering. You know, you would pay good money not to have to do that, and yet there are people racing out who want to spend their spare time clambering up rocks.

I think that I feel an indignation when I don't understand something.

I think the problem with people like this is that they are so stupid that they have no idea how stupid they are.

I think we're all born with a sense of humor. Creativity is another thing though.

Writing is the great skill, the creative skill. The acting is more an interpretative skill. And the thrill for me is the moment when I think of something. And then the challenge is how to get that funny idea to work in terms of the structure and that kind of thing, which is - and that's what I really love doing.

I think humor is incredibly positive, I think it is life advancing. There's medical research to show that it improves your antibodies. It's all about sense and perspective.

If I like chocolate it won't surprise you that I have a few chocolates in my fridge, but if you find out I've got 16 warehouses full of chocolate, you'd think I was insane. All these rich guys are insane, obsessive compulsive twits obsessed with money - money is all they think about - they're all nuts.

...when you collaborate with someone else on something creative, you get to places that you would never get to on your own. The way an idea builds as it careens back and forth between good writers is so unpredictable. Sometimes it depends on people misunderstanding each other, and that's why I don't think there's any such thing as a mistake in the creative process. You never know where it might lead.

The British fans are liable to suddenly be talking to you about something that you don't know how you got into the conversation. I think it's something to do with the fact that they've been watching you for so many years sort of you telling your story.

If you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick,

I think it takes a long time, as you get older, to realize just how crazy the world is, just how ridiculous it all is.

Because, as we all know, it’s easier to do trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do than to start on big things that we’re not so sure about.

I'm very odd 'cause I think there's more than just a materialist planet, a materialist, reductionist planet.

The most creative people have this childlike facility to play.

While you're being creative, nothing is wrong. There's no such thing as a mistake, and any drivel may lead to the breakthrough.

Telling people how to be creative is easy - being creative is difficult.

Nothing will stop you being creative more effectively as the fear of making a mistake.

It's easier to be creative if you've got other people to play with.

The most creative people have learned to tolerate the slight discomfort of indecision for much longer and so, just because they put in more pondering time, their solutions are more creative.

If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies... Do it in the 'closed' mode. But the moment the action is over, try to return to the 'open' mode... because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent.

To be creative you must create a space for yourself where you can be undisturbed... separate from everyday concerns.

I have several times made a poor choice by avoiding a necessary confrontation.

Creativity is not an ability that you either have or do not have. It is, for example, and this may surprise you, absolutely unrelated to IQ, provided you're intelligent above a certain minimal level.

Laughter is the best creative medicine.

High creativity is responding to situations without critical thought.

We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned. Most people, unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode.

Creativity is not the possession of some special talent. It’s about the willingness to play.

This is the extraordinary thing about creativity: If just you keep your mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later you will get a reward from your unconscious.

Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.

If God did not intend for us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat?

You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life's about change.

The English contribution to world cuisine - the chip.

Manuel will show you to your rooms - if you're lucky.

years ago we would have been burned for this. Now what I am suggesting is that we've advanced.

A satisfied customer. We should have him stuffed.

Yes it's her husband. She hasn't got over it. Died thirty years ago.

Oh, I could spend my life having this conversation - look - please try to understand before one of us dies

When we hold a World Championship for a particular sport, we invite teams from other countries to play as well.

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.

If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth.

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.

The trouble with the British is that they are not interested in ideas. If Jesus came back today and offered to speak for an hour on British television, they would say, "What! Another talking head?

We don't know where we get our ideas from. What we do know is that we do not get them from our laptops.

A wonderful thing about true laughter is that it just destroys any kind of system of dividing people.

Laughter is a force for democracy.

I started to make harder jokes before anyone else did. And the producers would get anxious. They'd say, 'That's a little bit hard-edged, isn't it?' And I'd say, 'Let's just try it and see how the audience reacts. If they don't like it, let's cut it out.' And the audience roared with laughter, so I learned you could do this harder humor and people loved it.

Laughter destroys any divisions between people.

I'm struck by how laughter connects you with people. It's almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you're just howling with laughter. Laughter is a force for democracy.