Alan Rickman

“There's a voice inside you that tells you what you should do.”

“When I'm 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I'll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, 'After all this time?' And I will say, 'Always.'”

“Actors are agents of change. A film, a piece of theatre, a piece of music, or a book can make a difference. It can change the world.”

“If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust.”

“Talent is an accident of genes - and a responsibility.”

“I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously.”

“It's a human need to be told stories.”

“I'm a character actor. I'd be a disaster as a star.”

“I don't play villains, I play very interesting people.”

“If people want to know who I am, it is all in the work.”

“I've never been able to plan my life. I just lurch from indecision to indecision.”

“I want to swim in both directions at once. Desire success, court failure.”

“The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our lives, the more we need to tell stories to each other.”

“My priority is to turn people on to the possibilities of language. And literature.”