Quotes from Tim Rice

Although I've got lots of pals in showbiz, I haven't got that many close friends.

I have always been obsessed with America, the geography, the history, and, of course, the music. I've been lucky enough to have travelled through the country a lot, and, in a kind of anorak way, I've noted which states I've visited and which ones I've been to most often and all that sort of detail.

If you now have 20 previews, you will regard 19 of them as super-rehearsals, which is fine, except you are being watched by thousands. I remember suggesting on more than one show over the years, 'Let's not have any previews.' But no one agreed with me. If you could do that, however, it would be a great gimmick - no previews, just opening night.

Two songs I like are 'High Flying Adored' and 'Another Suitcase Another Hall,' both from 'Evita.'

I went to religious schools. I wasn't that enthusiastic, by and large, but it sunk in.

There was so much on 'Superstar' that we didn't intend. I mean, there were things that we did which were innovative, but some of them were forced on us because we couldn't get anybody to do the show. 'Evita' was much more sophisticated. That doesn't make it better, but it does make it different. We knew what we were doing.

I have a fear of doing stuff thats not very good and being remembered for that.

I love watching 'Pointless.'

I always think 'Pity the Child' is a goodie. And I've always liked a song called 'Heaven Help My Heart,' which is quite a corny number.

It's a cliche, but most people are good at something, and most people are good at what they're enthusiastic about.

And all the good you've done will soon be swept away, You've begun to matter more than the things you say.

I always wanted to swim the Channel, which is insane.

He's a very natural chap. The public David Essex is the same as the private one. He's laid-back, charming, funny. There's no side to him.

When I went to do law, I kind of drifted through that and thought, 'I can pass these exams.' And I didn't - I failed three times, and each time I did worse and failed by a bigger margin. And that taught me so much.

The biggest lesson I had in my life was failure.

I like to write in fairly everyday language - I've always tried to write lyrics that, if people would speak the words, it wouldn't sound like a song.

I think failure is the best thing for some people. It tells you whether you're in the right job or the wrong one.

No one in your life is with you constantly. No one is completely on your side.

There is already huge public interest in stage musicals.

I recently declined to support a Conservative function because I'm so incensed about these wind turbines. Like all so-called climate-change doubters, I am very pro the environment, but I strongly believe that it is something that can only be cured locally. Some insane overall scheme isn't going to cure all the problems.

I love the history of popular music. I love to know what people are listening to, even if I don't like it.

To find a new British composer who is really good is rare.

September is my favourite month, particularly in Cornwall. I felt, even as a child, that if you get a wonderful day in September, you think: 'This could be one of the last, the summer is nearly over.' If you get a wonderful day in May, you think: 'So what, there's more coming.'

It happens that we DON'T SEE CHRIST AS GOD but simply the right man at the right time at the right place.