I predict a shower of meteorites in the autumn, but they will burn up entering the Earth's atmosphere. Otherwise, it doesn't look too bad. It will be a long time yet before the Earth is blown up - Patrick Moore, astronomer

A week of watching television has left me with the profoundest of respect for the TV critics, who endure conditions of work which make jobs in the sewers seem attractive by comparison - Dr Anthony Daniels on returning to TV-viewing after 30 years

Christmas brought so much excitement to Coronation Street that, by comparison, what happened in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago seemed like a non- event - Roy Hattersley, Labour MP

When I actually meet politicians, the Government, the Royal Family, members of the House of Lords and so on, they are remarkably ordinary people. When you get close to them, they are the same as my Aunt Ethel - Dr George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury

Marilyn Monroe was the role model for my generation. She was a size 16 and she still is thought of as a goddess - Alice Mahon, Labour MP, who is introducing a new Bill to clamp down on the slimming industry

For all I knew, when a car had an L-plate on the back of it, it indicated that it was being driven by a leper - Bill Bryson, the American author of a best-selling book about Britain