Alan Rickman

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

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

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

“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.'”

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

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

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

“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.”

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

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