I`ve got to do something to make up for all those self-absorbed and selfish years when I just, you know, was taking drugs, sitting in my room, doing bad things, whatever.

The whole point of being in this business and being blessed and being successful is that you`re able to do things for your friends or your family, which means that they can have something special in their lives, too.

[November 2004] I`ve never lived in a time so vexing. I just want to scream. It`s a nightmare. Bush [George W. Bush] and this administration are the worst thing that`s ever happened to America. I`m just as angry at Tony Blair. You lied to us, Tony. It was like - these idiots think they can get away with anything! I voted for Tony. He`s basically a nice guy. What happened? Is it because power does that thing to you, that you isolate yourself? It enrages me that people can just smirk their way through it.

[On his unsuccessful 2004 studio album, "Peachtree Road"]: It is probably one of my lowest-selling albums of all time. It was disappointing everywhere in the world, so I have to hold my hands up and accept that the songs just didn`t connect. I`m proud of "Peachtree", but, if I think about it logically, people may have ten or twelve Elton John albums in their collection already. Do they need another one?

And the danger is - and it`s happening - is we`re seeing an incredibly big rise amongst young gay people, young heterosexual people as far as catching HIV, which is, you know, in an educated country like this or in Britain, it`s frightening.

Well, I was making a record, and I had to choose a name, because they said, you know, you can`t make a record under the name of Reg Dwight, because it`s never going to - you know, it`s not attractive enough.

I have a lot of money stashed away, but I do live my life from day to day.

Who really needs a new album from me?

Every artist who makes it goes through a period where it seems they`re invincible. We`ve seen it with Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Prince. It just seems like they can`t fail. And then suddenly everything levels off. I knew it when it started happening to me. I was really tired, I knew I was peaking. I knew it was time for someone else to take over. You have to be realistic about these things.

I`m a very wealthy man.

Yeah. I have been with David Furnish for eight years, now.

I never really made a full album in Los Angeles before.

I think people should be free to engage in any sexual practices they choose; they should draw the line at goats though.

I am such a Luddite when it comes to making music. All I can do is write at the piano.

Bands today have to learn their craft by putting the hard work in that we did when we were young performers.

Well, as I was saying... everyone`s so nice to me, usually.

I do like Britney Spears. I think she`s cute. I think she`s fun. And I like her records. You know, I`m not a pop snob whatsoever. I think she makes great pop records.

And I trusted someone to look after me on the business side of life.

I didn`t have sex until I was 23 and that was with a man. I made up for lost time after that in a hurry. I wish I could have had sex when I was, like, 14, 15 or 16 because that`s such an exciting age to have sex.

I love places that have an incredible history. I love the Italian way of life. I love the food. I love the people. I love the attitudes of Italians.

We were both very much the same. We were both very impulsive. We both loved life. We both loved shopping. We both had a love of clothes, obviously, because he was the designer that I kind of wore forever and ever.

I am the most well-known homosexual in the world.

I`ve only been interested in the artistic side of life.

[in 2007] The Internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead, they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn`t bode well for long-term artistic vision. It`s just a means to an end. We`re talking about things that are going to change the world and change the way people listen to music and that`s not going to happen with people blogging on the Internet. I mean, get out there - communicate. Hopefully the next movement in music will tear down the Internet. Let`s get out in the streets and march and protest instead of sitting at home and blogging. I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole Internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span. There`s too much technology available. I`m sure, as far as music goes, it would be much more interesting than it is today.

Because, I figured that, because I was a successful man, I was wealthy, I was, you know, seemingly intelligent - even that I am not intelligent enough to ask for help.

I used to get my money at the end of the week, buy my mum something, or buy a record, and that was it.

Well, I`ve had my fair share in Britain of battling the tabloids.

[in 2007] In the early `70s there were at least ten albums released every week that were fantastic. Now you`re lucky to find ten albums a year of that quality. And there are more albums released each week now than there were then.

And I`m afraid, in this day and age, trust, which I count so, you know, I love loyalty. I love trust.

[About Live 8 (2005) (TV)]: I thought it was a bit of an anti-climax, to be honest. The thought behind it was fantastic, but Hyde Park is a charisma-free zone. There was no sense of occasion and from a musical point, I didn`t think there were too many highlights. I was very pleased to be a part of it, but I didn`t think it was anywhere near as good as the first one. How could it be?

And that wasn`t a problem coming out of the closet at all. My parents accepted it. I had, you know, I was very lucky in that respect.

There is nothing wrong with going to bed with someone of your own sex. People should be very free with sex, they should draw the line at goats.

I mean, in some cases with libel laws, you know, they can write things about people who have no course of action, because they can`t afford to take legal action against them.

I mean, Sting is one of my great buddies and I love him to death.

But actually, my drug addiction thing, I was so stubborn.

I`ve got a great collection of photography.

I`m very generous.

There`s a lot of Liberace in me and as a gay artist as such, but I am an openly gay man. A lot of my audience is the same kind of audience that Liberace would have had and they didn`t seem to give a shit. I think that`s so great.

I was more ashamed that I couldn`t work the washing machine than the fact that I was taking drugs.

I have a much better relationship with the press than I did, I think because I stood my ground.

There are so many other issues that, you know, people are - breast cancer, which I`m also very involved in and raising money for.

Well, I`m a huge fan of Ryan Adams, who`s from North Carolina. And he`s beginning to break really quite big.

[On performing at the Colosseum in 2005]: I love places that have an incredible history. I love the Italian way of life, I love the food, I love the people, I love the attitudes of Italians.

Nowadays, record companies want the quick buck from the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, S Club 7, Steps. They`ve always been around, I`m not knocking the music perhaps, but it`s like packets of cereal. There are too many of them, too many of them are just mediocre. And I think it damages real people`s chance, real talent, of getting airplay. It`s just fodder.

I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays. But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion. From my point of view I would ban religion completely. Organised religion doesn`t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it`s not really compassionate ... The world is near escalating to World War Three and where are the leaders of each religion? Why aren`t they having a conclave? Why aren`t they coming together? I said this after 9/11 and people thought I was nuts. Instead of more violence why isn`t there a meeting of religious leaders? It`s like the peace movement in the Sixties. Musicians got through to people by getting out there and doing peace concerts but we don`t seem to do them any more. If John Lennon were alive today he`d be leading it with a vengeance. They seem to do their protesting on-line and that`s not good enough. You have to get out there and be seen to be vocal, and you`ve got to do it time and time again. There was a big march in London when Britain decided to join the war against Iraq and Tony Blair is on the record as saying `the people who march today will have blood on their hands`. That`s returned to bite him on the ass. People come to me and I`m a bit like the Queen Mother. I never get those problems. I don`t know what it is with me, people treat me very reverently. It was the same when Dave and I had our civil union - I was expecting the odd flour bomb and there wasn`t. Dave and I as a couple seem to be the acceptable face of gayness, and that`s great. I`m going to fight for them whether I do it silently behind the scenes or so vocally that I get locked up. I can`t just sit back - it`s not in my nature any more. I`m nearly sixty years old after all. I can`t sit back and blindly ignore it and I won`t.

An agent is a person who is sore because an actor gets 90% of what they make.

The great thing about rock and roll is that someone like me can be a star.

If I was to say what I am, I`d be a Labour man. I like Tony Blair a lot, I think he`s a good man. And in America I`d definitely be a Democrat; I`d never be a Republican. One government all the time isn`t great for a country. I think it`s very hard to be in power for a long time, I think you lose touch. If Cameron [David Cameron] can bring a strong opposition to the Labour Party, then I think it`s healthy and I`m all for it.

And I agreed with that, and I couldn`t wait to change my name anyway, because I`m not too fond of the name of Reginald. It`s a very kind of `50s English name.

And there`s no guarantee that if you get HIV and you take these triple therapies, or whatever comes along next, that they`re going to be successful for you.

And I talked to my doctor, and I must admit, you know, I`m sometimes quite renowned for my outbursts and I was just very frustrated, maybe a little frightened.

My voice has gotten deeper and it`s all down to when I was living in Australia. I could speak and only barely sing. Deep down I knew that something was chronically wrong with my voice. It was polyps. The first thing the doctor said to me, "You smoke a lot of dope, don`t you?" I gasped and said, "How do you know?" The doctor said, "I can tell by the way you`re talking. If you`re a singer, the worse thing you can do is smoke dope." We did the operation in Australia and it lowered the timbre of my voice. It`s deeper, has more resonance and it`s stronger. I used to be a piano player who sang and now I`m a singer who plays piano.

There is no-one more qualified to lead America. I`m amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country, and I say to hell with them. I love you Hillary, I`ll be there for you. (On Hillary Rodham Clinton)

[after it was revealed he had spent £293,000 on flowers in less than two years] Yes, I like flowers.

I have no one to leave the money to. I`m a single man. I like spending my money.

[about Dusty Springfield] Hers was the first fan club I belonged to. I had pictures of Dusty all over my walls.

I want to bring my songs and melodies to hip-hop beats. It may be a disaster, it could be fantastic, but you don`t know until you try.

I`ve dodged so many bullets. Not just because of unsafe sex, but because of the amount of drugs I did, the amount of alcohol, the amount of work I was doing. I started the Elton John AIDS Foundation because I got so lucky.

I`ve always wanted to smash a guitar over someone`s head. You just can`t do that with a piano.

[About his marriage to Renate Blauel]: I regret it to this day because I was not honest with Renate. I married her while I knew that my truth was different. I find her a beautiful woman, she could have ruined me financially but she hasn`t done that. That is what I call true friendship.

I had a hell of a time last year [2004] and this is the end of it. I haven`t spoken to Madonna since. She`s been in Kabbalah meetings ever since. I don`t think I`ll ever be forgiven for that one. Then I had the George Michael-thing and the Victoria Beckham-thing. I will keep my mouth shut now.

[After breaking his fingernails by playing so hard]: If I had one finger left, I`d play for you.

[About Madonna]: Anyone who lip-synchs in public on stage when you pay £75 to see them should be shot. That`s me off her Christmas card list. But do I give a toss? No.

There`s so much you`re expected to do and you follow a pattern. You make a record, you do a video. I like to break the rules a little bit more and I did in the 1970s, I should try a little bit more now.

[After being asked about his sexuality in the 1970s]: I think people should be free to engage in any sexual practices they choose; they should draw the line at goats, though.

If there is a better singer in England than Craig David, then I am Margaret Thatcher.

I haven`t made a good album in a long while. Not since 1976 and Blue Moves.