Myself, for having such a lack of love for myself at times.

Realising I was never going to achieve the grades to become a vet.

When things are disappointing, I know they are happening for a reason, so I try to find out why and learn from them.

When I lost a race for the United States Senate, I thought the world was going to end for me politically, and 18 years later I was elected President of the United States. The biggest disappointment was that I wasn't able to communicate properly to the American people — with the proper conviction and the proper ability — where the country really stood. The pessimists, the naysayers, the change-wanters overwhelmed me, and I wasn't good enough. I wasn't articulate enough to have the country understand that we weren't in a recession, that we were in a rather booming economy in the last half of my presidency. That was a personal shortcoming, a failure on my path.

I was very proud of doing Falstaff, because it seemed to go well.

The third or fourth glass of wine.

Just remembered, really.

When I was a child, it was a bus driver or engine driver; then, when I was a teenager, I went to the theatre and wanted to be an actor.

Reading aloud the last two pages of a book about Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell. It was about his relationship with his cat, and a letter to a friend whose dog had died. It’s about letting the unexpected happen to you, and how that can really be what life is about.

Picking tiny bits of glass out of long grass for Haringey council, 45 years ago.