Terry Jones

I've been very lucky to have been able to act, write and direct and not have to choose just the one thing.

I don't think people who have children are acting selfishly or unselfishly. Having a child who'll be loved, to parents who love each other, is the important thing.

It doesn't worry me what anyone says, except when publicity hurts others.

Medieval learning was really advanced.

I've got a soft spot for Theatr Colwyn because my granddad used to run the Colwyn amateur dramatic society in the 1930s.

I like fantasy.

I like my stories once removed.

I'm cheerfully optimistic about life. Optimism is very important!

I don't think you need religion.

You know, I've never thought of myself as a comedian.

Fatherhood is wonderful.

I've never been good at improvising.

The funny thing about history is that we imagine that people didn't laugh in the old days, but of course they did, at stupid things.

We think of medieval England as being a place of unbelievable cruelty and darkness and superstition. We think of it as all being about fair maidens in castles, and witch-burning, and a belief that the world was flat. Yet all these things are wrong.

Some people are passionate about aisles, others about window seats.

I'd always thought that if Python was going to go on at all, it'd be nice to get into storylines.

Every age sort of has its own history. History is really the stories that we retell to ourselves to make them relevant to every age. So we put our own values and our own spin on it.

I'd like something that peels potatoes really quickly - that would be wonderful.

I spent my earliest years in Colwyn Bay in north Wales with my mother and grandmother, while my father was stationed with the RAF in India.

I'm a good cook; one of my specialities is reindeer and potato pie.