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Apart from a few set-piece debates, the Chamber of the House of Commons is dead and to a large extent irrelevant. It is no longer the forum of the nation - Lord Weatherill, former Speaker

For me, the currency of deep caring at a painful time such as this is silence - Frances Shand-Kydd, the Princess of Wales's mother

The Royal Family would be a bargain if we paid them twice as much - Kenneth Baker, former Home Secretary

Now Santa Claus is degendered, we'll work on God next - Merle Hoffman, feminist, on New York's first female Father Christmas

She was a very nice girl, but Father Christmas should be big and fat and jolly. She didn't say `ho, ho, ho' once - Helen Doherty, on Mother Christmas at a council-run grotto in Luton

This guy was the original soap scriptwriter. I was amazed by the outrageousness of the characters and situations and the pitch of the drama - Darren Star, creator of American soap operas including `Beverly Hills 90210', on Charles Dickens

When things go wrong, Antarctica is one of the cruellest, most unforgiving places on Earth - Roger Mear, who abandoned his solo unsupported crossing of the Antarctic due to bad weather conditions and problems with his sledge