Jeremy Paxman quotes:

Why are we in this mess, now facing the prospect of economic armageddon? It's because the prevailing characteristic has been greed, and it doesn't matter whether it's individuals living beyond their means or governments living beyond their means or people seeking to get rich quick.

The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Scepticism is a necessary and vital part of the journalist's toolkit. But when scepticism becomes cynicism it can close off thought and block the search for truth.

It's not just politicians. Any spokesman for a vested interest is well schooled in how to say what it is they wish to say, which may bear no relation at all to what you've asked them.

Sharing holiday snaps on social media is an act of arrogant vanity.

The English approach to ideas is not to kill them, but to let them die of neglect.

I've always thought you have to live life looking forwards, not backwards. I've had no interest at all in who my ancestors are.

One's teachers all belonged to that generation who were imperialists, and the whole narrative throughout my adolescence was of countries leaving the empire. I find it extraordinary that this purpose which drove how we viewed the world is now considered to be something that has no effect upon us.

At work people are expected to be at the beck and call of employers all the time. You have blackberries and other things, and they just don't leave you alone. People have less time just to drop into an art gallery.

It seems to me that the way to remove people's cynicism is, when asked a straight question, to give a straight answer.

I voted against Gerald Nabarro in my first general election, but my defiance made no difference. If you had put a Conservative rosette on a mustachioed hamster, it would have been elected.

[Cycling] is easily the quickest way around central London, faster than bus, Tube or taxi. You can predict precisely how long every journey will take, regardless of traffic jams, Tube strikes or leaves on the line. It provides excellent exercise. It does not pollute the atmosphere. It does not clog up the streets.

It's stupid to have a simple-minded view.

The promise of Western capitalism of ever rising rates of pay has turned out to be the cheque that bounced

I hate the word 'sneering', I can't help the way my face looks.

The idea of a tax on the ownership of a television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil?

... instead of trying to grapple with the implications of the story of empire, the British seem to have decided just to ignore it... the most corrosive part of this amnesia is a sense that because the nation is not what it was, it can never be anything again.

I got fed up of listening to bollocks

I have not a clue why they sent it to me. As far as I know I have not got a reputation as a receiver of stolen goods.

It would be unforgivable to use the role I have, such as it is, to inflict my incoherent, half-baked view of the world on people. That would be illegitimate and unacceptable and I should be fired.

Has there ever been a visitor to Ludlow who hasn't wished they lived there?

Television bosses should stop insulting the public's intelligence by assuming we are all idiots.

Ones teachers all belonged to that generation who were imperialists, and the whole narrative throughout my adolescence was of countries leaving the empire. I find it extraordinary that this purpose which drove how we viewed the world is now considered to be something that has no effect upon us.

I find it odd that people take me seriously.

The defining problem of contemporary television is trust: Can you believe what you see on television, does television treat people fairly, is it healthy for society?

I've always felt myself to be an outsider. I've always felt awkward.

The cure for cynicism is simply to engage honestly.

At last someone takes me seriously.

I've spent my whole life being told I have a face like a horse. You are just what you are, aren't you?

I have neither the learning nor the experience to know whether the doomsayers are right about the human causes of climate change. But I am willing to acknowledge that people who know a lot more than I do may be right when they claim that it is the consequence of our own behaviour. I assume that this is why the BBC?s coverage of the issue abandoned the pretence of impartiality long ago.

I'm afraid I tend to be thinking about things and not paying sufficient attention to one's posture, deportment and general cast of face.