“Maybe it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate.”

“When you’re in love, it’s not just about the messing around in the sack, it’s about how empty you feel when they’re gone.”

“I hated school. Hated it.”

“There was a cinema called The Orient outside the community centre where we rehearsed in Six Ways, and whenever it showed a horror film the queue would go all the way down the street and around the corner. ‘Isn’t it strange how people will pay money to frighten themselves?’ I remember Tony [Iommi] saying one day. ‘Maybe we should stop doing blues and write scary music instead.’”

“Hating people isn’t a productive way of living. So what’s the point in hating anyone? There’s enough hate in the world as it is, without me adding to it.”

“A lot of people came up to me that night and asked, ‘How come you and Sharon have stayed together all this time?’ My answer was the same then as it is now: I’ve never stopped telling my wife that I love her; I’ve never stopped taking her out for dinner; I’ve never stopped surprising her with little gifts.”

“I was a free man, and I’d survived prison without being arse raped or beaten to a pulp.So how come I felt so f**king sad?”