When friendship disappears then there is a space left open to that awful loneliness of the outside world which is like the cold space between the planets. It is an air in which men perish utterly.

Wherever on this planet ideals of personal freedom and dignity apply there you will find the cultural inheritance of England.

It is not natural or inevitable that half the world goes hungry that the freedom of markets trumps protection of the planet or that citizens' rights come second to those of corporations.

Australia is the only island continent on the planet which means that changes caused by planet-warming pollution - warmer seas which can drive stronger storms and more acidic oceans which wreak havoc on the food chain - are even more deadly here.

I used to eat because food tastes so good. I love food it's one of the best things on this planet. But I changed the way I was thinking. I started asking myself 'Hey am I eating because it tastes good? Or because I really need some more? Am I really still hungry?'

The term 'serious actor' is kind of an oxymoron isn't it? Like 'Republican party' or 'airplane food.'

I'm 33 now and I seem to have hit a fitness plane. Shifting the wobbly bits isn't as easy as it used to be.

One of the most gratifying things I get as an artist is when people watch me do these different demonstrations and they in some way feel empowered by what I'm doing so they can confront their own fears. Maybe it's the fear of getting in an elevator maybe it's the fear of going on a plane and seeing the world.

I'd like to jump out of a plane. I have a fear of heights I'd like to face.

My biggest fear ever is to be involved in a plane crash so when that happened... well I'm just thankful to be alive. I'm just grateful to be here at all.

You know I never used to be a bad flyer but I did start to have a fear of flying after I shot a movie where I was terrorized on a plane. I made Wes Craven's 'Red Eye'. I don't think they're linked but it does make me pause and wonder if they are so perhaps I will explore that in therapy some day.

Yet it ought to be obvious that good music generally occupies a higher plane that mere politics. Great writers can express moods through melody and capture experiences we share most powerfully - love lust longing joy rage fear triumph yearning and confusion.

I try to get in quiet time and book time but really the only time I ever get that is when I'm on an airplane - I have a fear of flying but I actually love flying because it's the only time I can sleep and it's the only time I get to read.

What Whitney Houston has accomplished will never be accomplished. She's the most famous person on the planet as far as vocaling and her songs. So I'm very happy that I can sit here and say I had a chance to know her. And I'm still dazed that she's gone. But she lives because her music is so powerful.

Quite frankly I didn't become an actor to become a movie star. I have never dreamed about being the most famous person on the planet. I just want to do really good work.

Touring is tough. You're almost in a haze because you don't really know where you are half the time: You're in a hotel room one moment and the next thing you know you're onstage performing for 60 000 people then you're back on an airplane. It's very hectic and I couldn't do it without my family.

From very early on in my childhood - four five years old - I felt alien to the human race. I felt very comfortable with thinking I was from another planet because I felt disconnected - I was very tall and skinny and I didn't look like anybody else I didn't even look like any member of my family.