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Everybody wants to be American, it seems; I travel enough to know.

I'm sure you're used to hearing that when people get to Long Island for the first time, it's a bit of a shock to the system. But I found Long Island people very endearing.

We have the character of an island nation: independent, forthright, passionate in defence of our sovereignty. We can no more change this British sensibility than we can drain the English Channel. And because of this sensibility, we come to the European Union with a frame of mind that is more practical than emotional.

People, when they first come to America, whether as travelers or settlers, become aware of a new and agreeable feeling: that the whole country is their oyster.

I'm stuck somewhere a small island in the middle of the Atlantic where I'm alone. Because in France, they're like, 'No, you're not like us, you're not a French guy.' And in America, they're like, 'You're not like us.' I'm really alone in my little thing.

Part of the reason people abroad resent the United States is something Americans can do very little about: envy. The richest, most powerful country in the world attracts the jealousy of others in much the same way that the richest, most powerful man in a small town attracts the jealousy of others.

I always think that the most delightful thing about traveling is to always be running into Americans and to always feel at home.

You grew up with America on the TV, and you think you know a place before you get there, and you have this idea of it in your head.