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" Darwin talks about evolution, but he doesn't say how it started. Maybe the sense of mystery will dissolve in the face of science, but I am not so sure. We are all described by the human genome, but it's getting people nowhere. "

Melvyn Bragg

Mystery

Science

People

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" The abolition of slavery was driven by the King James Bible. It gave slaves a common language and purpose. "

" As the 20th century unspooled, a cultural warming melted down many frozen class characteristics. "

" I decided years ago that I am just unfashionable. "

" The BBC does a sterling job, but I'd like to see it do more. ITV does four arts programmes a year; it used to be 28. At least Sky, with its two arts channels, is trying. "

" Now, perfectly ordinary people will give each other hugs. I mean, it used to be that a hug was reserved for if you came back from Australia - you know, back in the '40s and '50s. "

" A lot of the novels that I've really enjoyed in my life, whether it's Tolstoy's 'Cossacks,' or 'Sons and Lovers' or 'Jude the Obscure' or 'David Copperfield' or 'Herzog,' have an autobiographical spine. "

" There is an army of the informed wanting to be more informed. "

Melvyn Bragg

Informed

Wanting

" I was the only BBC graduate trainee in 1961 interested in arts broadcasting. I knew I wanted to write, and I had to make a living. "

" We start out as sand and soot out there in the universe, and who knows, in 40 trillion years' time we might come back. But if we come back without memory, it doesn't really interest me. "

" Too old at 72? Careful. Ageism is out. We'll have the law on you! "

" I sometimes think the only true record of England is the 'Cumberland News.' "

" My life is not very different from what it was 20 years ago. In fact, my career hasn't changed much since I was 22. "

" I enjoy writing. Would I rather be playing golf? No. Would I rather be fishing? No. "

" The success of the arts has come through a mix of public subsidy, substantial private support, and good box-office receipts, but central to Labour's post-1997 programme has been a determination to increase access as much as excellence. "

" In the 40 or so years I've known David Puttnam, not only has he pursued an outstanding career in films and now politics, but he has been the keeper of the flame of the British film industry. "

" I do think the BBC could do more, but I've always thought the BBC could do more - I think there should be more arts programmes full stop. "

" I'm addicted to 'Game Of Thrones.' "

" In an arts programme, my job was to go where the talent was. And the talent was in popular culture. "

" You ask 20 of your friends how English and American democracy came about. None of them would say that Anglicanism or Protestantism had anything to do with it. But it was crucial to it! "

" We were working class, and you don't lose that. Later on, I bolted on media middle class... and now people like me are in the House of Lords. "

Melvyn Bragg

You

People

" Control, like curiosity, can be an exterminator. "

Melvyn Bragg

Curiosity

Control

" We listened to a lot of drama, adaptations of books, comedy. There was a real love of music expressed in choirs, because you didn't have to have instruments except your voice. "

" One of the great things about making 'Reel History' was meeting British people from all over the class system. It made me realise that London is a different country. "

" The arts stimulate imagination. They provoke thought. And then, having done that, all sorts of other things happen. "

" I'm not a fan of the working class being mocked, including by some of our famous writers - even those who came from it. "

" I was born in a radio world, and I got so much from it. "

" A lot of the novels I admire are 'admirably provincial.' "

" It is very difficult for middle-aged, institutionalised males who have done so well out of subsidy - and, fair play, given much back - to realise that there is a time to be a well-heeled revolutionary. "

" My memory seems to be holding on quite well. There is no reason why it shouldn't if you keep training it. "

" I'll never forget my interview with Barry Humphries - one of the oddest I've ever done. He insisted that for half the time he appeared as Dame Edna. So I interviewed the real Barry Humphries in a suit and tie, and then I interviewed Edna in full fig in her dressing room, where she criticised Barry mercilessly. "