Michael Parkinson

“The only thing I can do is be myself. If I'm not myself, I'm nothing.”

“The art of conversation is not listening to what is being said, but to what is not being said.”

“The best interviews are a conversation. They're not an interrogation.”

“I've never met anyone who's normal. I've never met anyone who's not interesting.”

“You've got to have a sense of humour to get through life.”

“When you're a journalist, you're always on the outside looking in.”

“Muhammad Ali was the most remarkable man I ever met.”

“I regret the interview with Meg Ryan. I wish I hadn't done it.”

“There's no such thing as a boring person. There are only boring interviewers.”

“My ambition was to be a journalist, not a television star.”

“The trouble with TV is it has no memory.”

“I loved all of it. I've been so lucky. I've met the most extraordinary people.”

“You learn from your mistakes. And I've made plenty.”

“I am a creature of my time. I was born in a mining village in Yorkshire.”

“I'm just a bloke from Barnsley, that's all.”

“What you do is you get a guest you're interested in, and you talk to them.”

“Fame is a very strange thing. It's a bit like a mask you wear.”

“The idea is to get them to talk about themselves, not to talk about me.”

“I'm not a nostalgic person. I live in the present.”

“The great thing about being a journalist is that you're paid to be nosy.”