That happens every time I get behind a guitar regardless of what I'm saying 'cause music is freedom and being free is the closest I've ever felt to being spiritual.

The first responsibility of the Muslim is as teacher. That is his job to teach. His first school his first classroom is within the household. His first student is himself. He masters himself and then he begins to convey the knowledge that he has acquired to the family. The people who are closest to him.

There's been some research in cognitive science I'm told that discloses that there have always been perhaps 10 to 15 percent of people who are as Pascal puts it so made that they cannot believe. To us when people talk about faith it's white noise.

I had the closest thing I have ever had to an out-of-body experience lying in bed one morning. I turned on the 'Today' programme and item four on the news was: 'The shadow chancellor has ruled himself out of the leadership.' I lay there thinking that's interesting then I realised it was me.

Education n.: That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.

He who opens a school door closes a prison.

To this day some of my closest friends say 'Gaga you know everything's great. You're a singer your dreams have come true.' But still when certain things are said to you over and over again as you're growing up it stays with you and you wonder if they're true.

So here is one of my theories on happiness: we cannot know if we have lived a truly happy life until the very end. This view of life and death was reinforced by my close witnessing of the buildup to the death of Philip Gould. Philip was without doubt my closest friend in politics. When he died I felt like I had lost a limb.

Kurt and I weren't the closest of friends but I knew him well enough to be devastated by his death. For such a quiet person he was so excited about having a child.

At a formal dinner party the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.