"I mean, I went to a church school when I was younger and imbibed a certain amount of religion then but it was really in university that I got interested in religion and politics at the same time. I don't think as if it were one moment of conversion but my spiritual journey really began then."

"The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes."

"In government you carry each hope each disillusion. And in politics it's always about the next challenge."

"My view is that you still, in order to win from the Labour perspective, have to have a strong alliance with business as well as the unions. You have got to be very much in the centre ground on things like public sector reform."

"To master the mind is to understand that the melody of life is composed of both highs and lows."

"A lot of music you might listen to is pretty vapid, it doesn't always deal with our deeper issues. These are the things I'm interested in now, particularly at my age."

"It is a timeless truth that in the quiet sanctuary of self-reflection, the soul finds its rhythm."

"The true measure of a man is the melody of life is composed of both highs and lows."