"Everyone that I have taken the mick out of, or told a story about, is someone I know properly or someone who has been a team-mate, and I know can take it. I am not stitching anyone up."
"I wouldn't want to get my pigeon chest out in front of anyone. I don't think the world needs it. I'd probably get a yellow card anyway."
"I feel proud I was part of the old school and still around in the new school."
"I don't know why, but if I was walking down the street, the same people who called me freak would probably ask for a picture. It's a real strange thing."
"I'm lucky: whatever I eat, I've never wavered from just under 14 stone."
"I'll have an omelette, porridge, and fruit for breakfast at the training ground, then chicken, pasta and soup for lunch; then I can relax in the evening."
"I'm 6ft 7in, so I have a massive bed."
"So many kids want to be football players, and to still feel like I'm living the dream at 37 is amazing."
"Ronaldo, the Brazilian one - incredible player. I met him once. I was in Ibiza on holiday and quite by chance ran into him in a club. He's the only man I'd go up to and ask for a picture. And I did."
"I was a million miles from being a Premier League player. You see some people, at 18 they are ready. At 21, I wasn't. Physically nowhere near."
"Right from school, I got mockery for the way I look. I took it to heart early on. I admit there were times when I doubted myself."
"I got booed by my own fans when I came on in my first game for England. You go through things that are ridiculous. But you get to the stage you realise everyone's got an opinion."
"I didn't think too much about people who didn't believe in me. It hasn't really affected me."
"I was always quite technical as a player, but when you are the size I am, if you are crap in the air, it is going to look bad."
"I am not the sort of character to get carried away."
"I have really got into watching the unsigned bands. They play mad venues like the Sugarmill in Stoke and all sorts of underground, grimy places."
"I made so many mistakes when I was younger."
"I once bought an ill-advised half cashmere, half camel hair jumper for £800, then ruined it by spilling a pint of Guinness all over it."
"I used to pretend I was into speed garage when I hated it."
"The jokes about how I look have actually made me stronger."
"I've been promoted, relegated, won big trophies, gone months without scoring, played for my country at World Cups, been bought, sold, loaned, and called 'a freak.'"
"A little voice keeps telling me an Aston Martin really isn't me, but a louder voice is telling me that, as an England international playing for Liverpool, the old rules no longer apply."
"You should never get ahead of yourself car-wise; no Merc when you're still in the youth team, no Porsche unless you're a Premier League regular."
"I once walked out of a nightclub with my team-mates to see our star midfielder reclining across the bonnet of a Ferrari, arms folded, waiting for girls to come out so he could wink at them and then progress it from there. I have no idea how long he'd been waiting. I do know it wasn't even his Ferrari."
"Because of how I looked, there was definitely a prejudice against me. People didn't think I could play. I could see why: I weighed about eight stone and was six foot bleeding seven."
