From my earliest days, reading was my passion, and at Cambridge, where I studied English literature, my intellectual life deepened and grew.

I don't like 'comedy,' I like 'life,' which has everything in it.

I've never been someone who is cast for having a lovely figure but for whatever qualities I could possibly bring to a role, so I'm still castable.

It's shameful to admit, but it's been a bit of a lifelong affair, and I do now feel I'm as good as it gets. I'm honourable, kind, friendly, warm, intelligent, generous, and I've got a good sense of humour.

I really have fallen in love with myself.

I am stopped in the street by kids and Harry Potter fans all the time.

Israel is stupid for allowing people to vent their anti-Semitism.

It's really hard being old - it's horrible.

I do say things possibly other people don't say. So I shouldn't be too surprised when they are picked up.

People seem comfortable with me. And maybe that's got a lot to do with shows like Graham Norton. You just tell it like it is on those programs.

As I get older, people do come up to me just to give me a hug.

Adelaide's charms are compelling. It's not a huge place; the size is manageable, the traffic absurdly light.

My home in Adelaide was the Adina Hotel.

I have no secrets. I decided very early on in life that the strongest position was to be completely open.

My vocabulary is vast and expert, and I don't think I overuse any word.

My mother died of a stroke in 1974, and for a long time, I blamed myself. She was utterly devastated when I told her I was a lesbian not long before.

I don't like religion.

Although my parents both liked her, they just didn't approve of a same-sex relationship. Nowadays, people say that you must let children be what they are, but when I was growing up, the parents defined the child - and my parents had a definite vision of how they wanted me to be.

I don't for a second regret my closeness to them because they were wonderful, golden parents who gave me so much confidence.

I'm going to be 75 in May. How can I have lived this long and not know anything?

I have a class prejudice - against the upper class, which is foolish.

Old people have a much better time in India because they're respected.

The first piece of property that I bought was in Tuscany in 1973.

I may have a talent for acting, but I am incapable of doing anything else.