Most people have no idea how to politely answer a phone. The English do and it's been their only major business advantage for the past two centuries.

We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours we are the not the best informed as the events of the last sixty centuries.

Throughout the centuries man has considered himself beautiful. I rather suppose that man only believes in his own beauty out of pride that he is not really beautiful and he suspects this himself for why does he look on the face of his fellow-man with such scorn?

I am little concerned with beauty or perfection. I don't care for the great centuries. All I care about is life struggle intensity.

Even in the centuries which appear to us to be the most monstrous and foolish the immortal appetite for beauty has always found satisfaction.

In the first book of my Discworld series published more than 26 years ago I introduced Death as a character there was nothing particularly new about this - death has featured in art and literature since medieval times and for centuries we have had a fascination with the Grim Reaper.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is unsurpassed at presenting more than 50 centuries of work. I go there constantly seeing things over and over better than I've ever seen them before.

I must try and break through the cliches about Latin America. Superpowers and other outsiders have fought over us for centuries in ways that have nothing to do with our problems. In reality we are all alone.