When I read 'Dream of Red Mansions,' I was really struck by the fact that it was built differently from a lot of genre works. Specifically, a lot of the events that should have taken centre-stage - wars, social upheavals - were seen entirely through the eyes of the women of a Chinese household.

Aliette de Bodard

I'm not very interested in myself. I do have a deep moral belief that you should always look out at other things and not be self-centred.

A. S. Byatt

I much prefer playing in the centre of the park; that's where I feel comfortable.

Aaron Ramsey

I'm happy to be in the centre for Wales - that's my favourite position and where I play my best football.

Aaron Ramsey

In many of the things that people do, they themselves are the centre of attention, but they inscribe some other name on their banner.

Abdolkarim Soroush

One of the main characteristics that differentiates Dubai from other commercial centres is its openness to innovation and the freedoms it grants people and institutions to operate.

Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair

Even though I have been receiving offers left, right and centre, I have been a little choosy about my projects.

Abhimanyu Singh

I've been visiting community centres and schools for 20-plus years and what I've seen is that kids are kids, they want to learn. They learn from experiences, they ask questions when they don't know something.

Adam Goodes

If I hosted a high tea at home it would be an Italian aperitivo-style high tea. I'd make little meatballs with lemon puree and mozzarella centres. Or maybe little schnitzel sliders with coleslaw.

Adriano Zumbo

My Mum was the main reason why I became a chef. She influenced all of my family to feel free in the kitchen - it was the centre of our home and I have wonderful memories of helping Mum cook and experiencing the love and patience that went into the food.

Ainsley Harriott

The films I've done with all my heart have gone on to become huge hits. When I set out to do a 'mass masala' intending to please B and C centres, it bombs.

Akkineni Nagarjuna

However, if we examine the Canadian scene closely enough, we can see signs of this physical and spiritual rot settling into a number of our Canadian urban centres with a troubling spill-over into many of our more rural areas.

Alex Campbell

I'm in a difficult position in the sense that, preposterous as this might sound, I don't like being the centre of attention. I get up on stage every night and play songs, but I almost feel the songs are the centre of attention. I don't like opening my birthday presents in front of people, either.

Alex Turner

I guess, when I go there in the centre, when I do my rehabilitation, I look at the people with only one leg and I actually envy them because I'd love to have one leg. I guess the ones that only have one leg, they envy the ones that they are only missing one leg below the knee, and on and on.

Alex Zanardi

Gen Y is depicted as self-centred and apathetic when it comes to politics, but it doesn't help that we are largely overlooked. There have been policies to woo parents, pensioners and the sick, but the young do not appear to rank high on any political agenda.

Alexandra Adornetto

If I won the lottery I'd start a charity that helped little family hardware stores, cobblers and fruit shops open in city centres.

Alexei Sayle

There's so much craziness that comes along with being a movie star that you can get so confused. Unless you've spent your whole life waiting to be the centre of attention, it's pretty terrifying.

Ali MacGraw

I see the difficulty of kids in going to university, the difficulty of kids in schools getting arts education, so that the arts and drama and the creative arts are extracurricular. They aren't: they are at the centre, and they are the equipment we so desperately need in the world.

Ali Smith

The sea has this contradictory quality, that the more you see of it, the more it overwhelms the eye and disappears in its own brightness. Like a flame, whose meaning is light but whose centre is dark, it demands to be undefined.

Alice Oswald

It's incredible that the layout of the centre of Chester, for instance, is still essentially that of the original Roman fort.

Alice Roberts

Our long, flexible lumbar spines are great in many ways - they help us to run efficiently, for instance. But they have their drawbacks. The lumbar vertebrae are under great strain, and as we age, the ligaments that hold the pulpy centres of the intervertebral discs in place dry out.

Alice Roberts