I never like being touched, ever. People used to say I held my breath when they were hugging me. I still do.

I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.

The reason I became 297 pounds is because that was comfortable. What was very uncomfortable was running. What was very uncomfortable was being on a diet. What was very uncomfortable was trying to face things that I didn’t want to face. And I also realized, when I was really big, I had no growth. Why? Because I was living comfortable.

I was raised in a family where vulnerability was barely tolerated: no training wheels on our bicycles, no goggles in the pool, just get it done. And so I grew up not only with discomfort about my own vulnerability, I didn’t care for it in other people either.

My concerts are about me being very private in public, but I’m very protective.

I’ve always put everybody else’s child first before my own health, before my own outfit, before my own time frame.

The answer I found is you stay away from the people who make fun of you, and you join these ad hoc groups who understand your craziness.

You know, you can make a small mistake in language or etiquette in Britain, or you could when I was younger, and really be made to feel it, and it’s the flick of a lash, but it would sting, and especially at school where there’s not much privacy, and so on. You could, yes, undoubtedly be made to feel crushed.

I love reading people. I really enjoy watching, observing, and being able to figure out a person, the reason they wore that dress, the reason they smell the way they do.

Hell is other people.

Our whole life is set up in the path of least resistance. We don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to feel discomfort. So the whole time, we’re living our lives in a very comfortable area. There’s no growth in that.

I don’t dabble and spend much mind or time dealing with, I don’t know, people’s perceptions of me. I truly don’t.

One of the most terrible feelings in the world is knowing that someone else doesn’t like you. Especially when you don’t know what you’ve done to deserve it.

Sometimes I’ve been to a party where no one spoke to me for a whole evening. The men, frightened by their wives or sweeties, would give me a wide berth. And the ladies would gang up in a corner to discuss my dangerous character.

I hate pain, despite my ability to tolerate it beyond all known parameters, which is not necessarily a good thing.

The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.

I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.

I have practically no private life. I’m already used to this and ready for it. Yes, sometimes it is hard, but it is the choice I made.

I guess maybe when you get past 70, other people start asking you how you feel.

My father had a dairy farm. He employed three black families and one white family, and I used to play with black children.

I try to very hard to avoid a situation where I would be eating cat or dog; I’ve managed to gracefully avoid that. It’s hypocritical of me and an arbitrary line, but one that I have managed to avoid crossing.

No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.

I don’t like to talk much with people who always agree with me. It is amusing to coquette with an echo for a little while, but one soon tires of it.

The fact is that I find more most men are more open, more generous, and much more stimulating than the majority of females I know.

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.

It’s not a slam at you when people are rude, it’s a slam at the people they’ve met before.

I always think if you are asking somebody for something it is a good idea to give them something first.

If I’m in a bad mood, or if I’m uncomfortable, it’s probably what I’m wearing that’s making me feel that way.

Don’t you hate when your hand falls asleep and you know it will be up all night.

You know, God has some really weird kids, and I find it hard to be in their company most of the time.

I could never give relationship advice to anybody!

Not everybody is comfortable with the idea that politics is a guilty addiction. But it is.

I’m not comfortable being around too many people. I don’t like being out in public too much. I don’t like going to bars. I don’t like doing celebrity stuff. So most of the characters I play are people who don’t always feel comfortable beyond their small circle of friends.

I’m not that keen on the idea of being unconscious.

The Hindus are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

I won’t let people write anything they want to about me.

If you don’t stand your ground, then all that happens is people push you backwards.

After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands.

I think all documentaries leave out areas of people’s lives. Which is good. There are areas that need not be explored.

The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.

I don’t want to write an autobiography because I would become public property with no privacy left.

The only person who ever called me Paul was my father, so I always associate it with doing something wrong, you know. So, you know, occasionally, people will come up to me on the street and try to, you know, ingratiate themselves and call me Paul. I don’t like it, actually.

I get naturally uncomfortable when I’m put under a magnifying glass.

Too often we… enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

Luckily for me, people don’t scream at me that much in my everyday life.

I felt extremely uncomfortable as the focal point, in the spotlight. I really like the behind the scenes role, because all my freedom is there.

When I walk outside, people have something to say about it.

There are certain things that bother me and certain things that don’t. Personal attacks on me? I think I’m just so used to it.

I don’t compare myself to anyone else; I don’t make comments about anyone else because they do what feels right for them, and that’s okay by me.

Humans cannot avoid trying to influence others. Everything we say or do is examined and interpreted by others for clues as to our intentions.

Don’t tell your problems to people: eighty percent don’t care; and the other twenty percent are glad you have them.

It is very hard to not be able to engage with people in a real and honest way because they either want something from me, or they see me as something that I simply am not.

Give yourself more opportunities for privacy, when you are not bombarded with duties and obligations. Privacy is not a rejection of those you love; it is your deserved respite for recharging your batteries.

I don’t like people looking at someone else’s image.

I love hugging people. I still hug everybody in my meet-and-greet lines.

If I feel anxious every time someone is staring at me, well, I can’t control what they stare at, but my reaction is, I’m just not going to go outside the house. I’m going to stay in and chill. And when I do go out, I understand what comes along with that.

I feel like I’m being watched. Always. Like, I want to tan topless somewhere, and I know I probably could never do that. Even if I’m upstairs in my bedroom, and the curtains are pulled, I feel like a paparazzo’s outside on a boat somewhere, or somebody’s peeping.

There is no private life which has not been determined by a wider public life.

Working out the social politics of who you can trust and why is, quite literally, what a very large part of our brain has evolved to do.

I have no problem if someone wants to hug me – if I know him!

You have to be careful about how much you reveal to people that look up to you so much.