Ross Kemp quotes:

When checking in at an airport, no matter how rude the check-in person is to you, always smile and be nice because you don't know what kind of day they've had. You are going on holiday and they're stuck wherever they are. Be nice to them because they can re-route your baggage to wherever they feel like.

I read a lot of research notes about the countries I visit, and my mum and dad bought me a Kindle, but I'm still getting to grips with it. I prefer paper books.

I've always had a lot of time for servicemen. Yet there's been this bad relationship between civilians and the armed services. We say to soldiers, 'We want you when we want you, but stay away in peacetime. We're proud of you, but keep away from my daughter and don't come drinking in my pub.'

For too many families, the aftershock of the war in Afghanistan will be felt every day, most probably for the rest of their lives. I know because I've looked into the eyes and the faces of grieving mothers.

Sunglasses are a bit like watches for me - a real obsession. My favourites are Oakleys, Ray-Bans and Wileys, which are worn by the U.S. military.

The welfare system was designed to do something different when it was started than what it does now. It was a safety net to help people get back to work: if they were sick, it would help them get back.

If you have extremes of haves and have-nots where the gap keeps growing, the have-nots group together and create social disorder, as they can't see a way out of their situation.

Many areas of Los Angeles have gang problems.

It only takes around 60 seconds to cast your vote in the polling station. 60 seconds to protect the economy, 60 seconds to protect your jobs, 60 seconds to protect the services your family relies on. A lot is at stake during those 60 seconds.

I didn't even watch the soaps when I was in them because it's like a coal miner coming home and staring at the coal scuttle - I was never a great lover of watching myself act.

I always get very fit if I'm going away filming for two months in Afghanistan or wherever.

When the weather's good, there's no better place to be than the British countryside.

What's always got me is the fact that when people talked on the telly about Iraq, before Afghanistan kicked off, you'd get only these public-school-type army officers talking about what was going on out there. I kept thinking, 'Why don't we get the true voice of the squaddie? Why don't we hear from the lads on the battlefield?'

If I have a weakness, it's for timepieces - if I see one I like and can afford it, I'll buy it.

Jewelry is fine on some guys, but it's not for me.

Riots born out of political issues aren't the same as those born out of personal greed.

I think we have always had a fascination for gangs and gangsters, and I think we always will.

I do dream about Afghanistan. I wake up and think I'm still there.

It's an odd feeling, knowing someone is trying to kill you. On the front line, you learn quickly that if you're in the path of a bullet, you will get hit.

I really enjoy travelling around the world. I get to meet some extraordinary people.

I have seen incredible bravery from very young guys, the young generation that people write off.

I really hate people who feel their private lives should be paraded, and there are magazines like 'Hello!,' 'OK' and 'Bella' totally devoted to this.

Oh yeah, I'm an Essex boy and proud of it.

A day in Afghanistan is like a week at home.

I don't think you should go into politics until you can stand on your own two feet economically, if possible, and you know enough about the world.

I would never ever talk about my own personal life in an interview.

I'm an old git now, so I would say this, but television was better when there were less channels. There was more concentration and selection in terms of the output.

Some bosses believe they can't afford to employ someone legitimately - so they employ them illegally.

Some people figure that if they're part of a gang then they have less of a chance of being killed, because they are in larger numbers. But the problem with this is that it will lead to people doing stuff that they wouldn't usually do.

If you offer me a job sitting in a Winnebago with make-up girls and free food, I'm probably going to take it.

On my travels around the world, I've met people in countries where democracy doesn't exist and if it does, they are intimidated into voting in a certain way.

People-trafficking is modern day slavery. There are more slaves today than there were at the height of the slave trade.

The one thing that I'm absolutely sure about is that the people of Gaza aren't going anywhere. And neither are the people of Israel.

There is no such thing as the worst gang because they're all pretty bad. It is very difficult to classify them in terms of who is worse than the other because they all have pretty bad things associated with them.

War is not cheap, but it's the human cost that's the highest.

When I was an actor, I was part of a team, which I loved. You are a part inside something which is larger.