Money talks

“I am not good with money. I started over five times from zero because my personal life has sometimes been a mess. Build another home, buy another bed, c’est la vie. I always help my family, my friends. When somebody has no telly, I buy one.” Opera singer Angela Gheorghiu (pictured), quoted in The Times

“When our first child wasn’t sleeping, we hired a night nanny. If money can buy you one thing, it can buy you a good night’s sleep.” Comedian Josh Widdicombe, quoted in The Daily Telegraph

“You can’t live a Champagne life on a lemonade budget. You need to have the money in the bank.”

Andy Barwell, who owed £35,000 before getting help from a debt charity, quoted on the BBC

“No, Santa Claus does not exist. In fact, I would add that the red of the suit he wears was chosen by Coca-Cola exclusively for advertising purposes.” Sicilian bishop Antonio Staglianò, in a communion speech to children, quoted on CNN

“I’ve saved £5,000 or £6,000 a year since I gave up hash five years ago… I read somewhere that I spent £2m on drugs — there’s no way. It sounds good in rock and roll mythology. I was always a weedy fella and was frightened of drugs. It was only when I began drinking that I started taking coke.” Francis Rossi, co-founder and lead singer of Status Quo, quoted in The Sunday Times

“Why should [doing the Smurfs movie] be demeaning? [It] was only a few days of my life, and I got paid a vast amount of money.”

Actor Alan Cumming, who provided the voice for a character in the 2011 children’s film, quoted in The i newspaper account