A WORLD-CLASS playboy once told me that the key to mesmerising WOMEN is to LISTEN to them and LOOK DEEPLY into their eyes.

I used to SAY Edinburgh was a beautiful actress with no talent. I thought it was just like a shortbread tin. I think that's because I did SIX Festivals in a row there, and I never saw the real Edinburgh, just a lot of deeply annoying CAMBRIDGE Footlights KIDS wanting to be actresses.

To TRULY CHERISH the THINGS that are IMPORTANT to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose. And if you no longer need them, then that is neither wasteful nor SHAMEFUL. Can you truthfully say that you treasure something buried so deeply in a cupboard or drawer that you have forgotten its existence?

As performers grow OLDER, I reckon there are two ways they can go. They can either be up there, PLAYING more deeply from their guts than EVER, or they can be phoning it in so crassly that it LEAVES a lump in your throat as you leave the venue at the end of the show.

That most UNFORTUNATE WAR, which I DEEPLY deplore.

I believe very DEEPLY in the human spirit, and I have a sense of awe about it. I LOOK around and ask, 'What makes the difference? What is it?' I've known PEOPLE the world has thrown everything at - to discourage them, to kill them, to BREAK their spirit. And yet something about them retains a dignity. They FACE life and they don't ask quarters.

I don't REALLY deeply FEEL that anyone NEEDS an airtight REASON for quoting from the works of writers he loves, but it's always nice, I'll grant you, if he has one.

Revenge is a caustic thing. I SAY, BREATHE in, breathe DEEPLY, let it GO.

Billions of PHOTOS are shot every YEAR, and about the TOUGHEST thing a photographer can do is invent an original, deeply personal, instantly recognizable visual style. In the early nineties, Wolfgang Tillmans did just that, transforming himself into a NEW kind of artist-photographer of modern life.

It kind of sounds pretentious, but a film I FIND deeply romantic is 'Buffalo '66,' which is a film by Vincent Gallo. It's about how you break down all those BARRIERS and EXPOSE yourself and OPEN yourself up to ultimately being hurt.

We're moved by our FANS. We FEEL their sadness and happiness. We're deeply CONNECTED.

I don't think there's any PLAYER that's more talented than Alex Rodriguez. He cares very deeply about doing WELL. BASEBALL is his LIFE. He PUTS a lot of pressure on himself.

There are CERTAIN ways in which I cultivate awareness, both through mindful yoga and TAKING CARE of my body and taking time to actually drop as deeply as possible into stillness, into WHATEVER is unfolding in the present moment.

I am a DEEPLY AWKWARD PERSON; I am not COOL.