On playing a character: "You can`t relate to a superhero, to a superman, but you can identify with a real man who in times of crisis draws forth some extraordinary quality from within himself and triumphs but only after a struggle. Real courage is knowing what faces you and knowing how to face it." (source: "The Making of LICENCE TO KILL" by Sally Hibbin. Eon Productions Ltd. and Glidrose Publications Ltd., 1979.)

When I saw those posters of Pierce standing there, I suddenly thought to myself, Jesus, I don`t have to stand there with a gun to the side of my head anymore! I suddenly found the most tremendous sense of liberation, and I started to feel more like myself than I`d felt in years! I suddenly felt free! (describing his feelings on whether or not in retrospect he made the right decision not to make the James Bond film GoldenEye)

He`s terrific. I think Casino Royale (2006) is a huge step forward - a leap forward. It`s great and Daniel`s great. He got a lot of stick when he was doing it. There was a lot of negative press. He was criticized by people who didn`t have a clue what was in the script or what he was going to look like in the film, which was deeply unfair. I said how wrong everyone was at the time because he`s a very gifted actor. I`m pleased that the movie turned out as well as it did.

I don`t think that Bond is a role model or that he should be a role model. He`s only part of a particular kind of story. I don`t think anyone should grow up wanting to go around killing people. I don`t think anyone should grow up wanting to be a secret agent.

Roger Moore was brilliant but the movies had gone a long way from their roots; they had drifted in a way that was chalk and cheese to Sean. And I think Daniel Craig will work well. I think he`s going to be terrific, he`s got danger and vulnerability.

That`s something I think about constantly because it has to be for a purpose, it`s not just self-indulgence. People often say, "Well, it`s just the way I express myself." That`s no good, that`s narcissistic, juvenile. You work to express the piece because you believe the piece has value and that can be communicated to other people who will see something new of life because of it. You must believe that it will in some small or big way make a difference to their lives.

"It`s very important to make the man believable so that you can stretch the fantasy. Whether people like this kind of Bond is another question." (on his approach to the role of James Bond)

"I felt as free as a bird" - describing driving down Sunset Boulevard and seeing a billboard that had Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan on it, but no Timothy Dalton.

"I don`t think I`ve drunk one since I`ve left the Bond movies. Every bar you go in, there`s always some wisecrack, `Oh, yours will be a Martini, shaken, not stirred!` You get sick and tired of that." - talking about all of the vodka martinis he would get whenever he walked into a bar, while he was playing Bond.