Quotes from Kevin McCloud

I don't know whether other asthma sufferers find this, but I've noticed that even when I've got my asthma under control, I often develop another problem such as an ear, chest or sinus infection and sometimes even joint pains.

Architecture was pretty much the sexiest thing to be doing from 1700-1800.

There's nothing you can do about busted ribs. You just have to wait for them to pop back into place again.

I like the absurd and the surreal: the Coen brothers, Bunuel, Kubrick.

I don't look at what people do with their homes in terms of money, but the social and personal value of what they're trying to do and achieve.

There's no reason for your imagination to be fettered by money.

Building your own home is about desire, fantasy. But it's achievable; anyone can do it.

I am a big fan of long drop, composting toilets - I like the cycle of using waste. When you have experienced one and seen what comes out of the bottom, it is amazing stuff. It's the most beautiful, driest, sweet-smelling compost.

A great deal of energy is wasted in hating people, and I can honestly say I've no wish to expend such a precious resource on being outraged about anyone.

I'm quite shy. Television presents an amplified version of yourself. When I'm on camera I'm pumping more adrenaline, I'm being a bit more engaging than I am in everyday conversation, but that's normal, isn't it? Otherwise nobody would want to watch.

I've had my fair share of colds, which last longer than they should and can cause wheezing, so I avoid people who are sneezing like the plague and am scrupulous about hygiene and hand-washing.

We are borrowing money from future generations. We are borrowing the carbon impact, the resource impact from future generations to get stuff cheap now. We have swept the dirt and dust from our society under the carpet - but this carpet is on other side of the planet.

Your home should be about enriching the daily experience.

If I welcomed people into my lovely home every week in the pages of a magazine, they'd soon see how incredibly dull it is. It's important to maintain a bit of mystique.

You cannot use the democratic process for the procurement of excellence.

I'm terribly fastidious. I like symmetry and neatness, but my house is as chaotic as any other family's.

I hate negativity. I hate people who say the phrase 'I hate'. I really don't like the word 'hate.' Dislike, frightened of, terrified of, or yukky - but not 'hate.'

The thing that I champion is sustainability. My terror is that suddenly we see it as a luxury, not an essential. That's a danger.

I spend a frightening amount of money on books.

I'm really quite conscious of clothes and the way they fit and don't regret wearing anything. Not even the five-inch stack heels I wore with three-button high-waisters at comprehensive school. Regret is for wimps.

One mustn't mistake bling for excellence, just as one mustn't mistake quiet for mediocre.

Because I live in the countryside, I want a building which encourages me to have a fully formed relationship with the environment. It gives me an opportunity to not just be inside or outside, but in a range of contexts.

I cannot look at modern buildings without thinking of historical ones.

Life involves other people and it is a compromise.