QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“I was trying to help other people with immediate flood relief as the rain was coming down hard. I was helping to shift a local’s cattle in one of the fields and could see how the water was flowing up like a bath. It was very frightening and, at the same time, I knew I had to get back to my farm to save my lambs. By the time I did get back, the flooding had risen so quickly that I couldn’t even get near the ground. It was unbelievable how fast it came up.” Donegal farmer Paddy McLoughlin describes the moment he was powerless to save his lambs from drowning in catastrophic flood waters.
“Two days before, the world heard him brag about groping women. Now we were on a small stage and no matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled.” Hillary Clinton on Donald Trump’s behaviour during the election campaign.
“A dark cancerous force which threatens democracy by prioritising fakery on a massive scale.” Broadcaster Jon Snow, discussing Facebook.
“No one would expect us to remove Hadrian’s Wall because it was built with slave labour. It would be a nonsense.” Former British Tory minister Ann Widdecombe denouncing as “total rubbish” a call to topple Nelson’s Column on the grounds that he was a “white supremacist”.
“I will eat whatever is put in front of me. I need to stop. I need to go and suck on a gem lettuce for at least a year.” Sandi Toksvig, co-host of The Great British Bake Off.
“I know that I am not a great beauty and I know that I am a certain taste. It has taken me nearly 40 years to realise that, but it’s OK. I quite like the fact I don’t always fit.” Actress Suranne Jones, who was once described as “a bit fat and a bit nothing”.
“I’m not there for destroying souls — that’s not who I am. I certainly won’t be giving a one or a two. But I’m going to take it from an honest point of view of what I see. You don’t want too much pink ice cream — that will make you sick.” New Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas.
“I like the flirtation, the excitement and the passion of an affair, although I now realise they cause an awful lot of pain for no result. I don’t want to sound like an awful husband-stealer but I’m single and nearly every man who hits on me is already in a relationship”. Writer Sarah Pinborough.
“Partner — horrible word. Friend? No. Boyfriend? No. Chap? Will chap do?” Dame Judi Dench has a problem with how to describe her relationship with conservationist David Mills.