Talk of citizenship today is often thin and tinny. The word has a faintly old-fashioned feel to it when used in everyday conversation. When evoked in national politics it's usually accompanied by the shrill whine of a descending culture-war mortar.

I am a part of the political process whether the multinational forces are present or not. Politics is serving the people not chairs and positions.

Sincerity and competence is a strong combination. In politics it is everything.

I was in elective politics for 24 years. I've made four national races two for President two for Vice President. I have found there are other ways to serve and I'm enjoying them.

It's not that I'm universally loved. We know I'm not in New Jersey. But what they do say in New Jersey is 'We like him and we think he's telling us the truth.' I think we need to have that type of politics on the national level.

We read too much Shakespeare at school and view our parliamentary politics as dynastic drama in which an impatient crown prince frets at his long subordination and begins to scheme for the throne he knows he merits was promised and has earned.

Without alienation there can be no politics.

It isn't fate but fecklessness that has shoved Sarah Palin to the sidelines of national politics. The real tragedy is that she's taken a lot of other serious Republican women with her.

Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent scurrilous wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country - and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians.

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo to serve the common good and to leave this nation better than we found it.

I honestly believe that there's an element in this country in our politics that does not want to see a businessman succeed at getting the nomination for the Republican party and does not want me to succeed at becoming President of the United States of America.

At present our country needs women's idealism and determination perhaps more in politics than anywhere else.

And yet there are still people in American politics who for some reason cling to this belief that America is better off adopting the economic policies of nations whose people who immigrate here from there.

A wise nation should cultivate a political spirit that allows opponents to cooperate without fearing an automatic execution from their core supporters. Who knew that the real rogues in American politics would be the ones who dare to get along?

What we won when all of our people united must not be lost in suspicion and distrust and selfishness and politics. Accordingly I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as president.

Alliance - in international politics the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.

Justice sir is the great interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together.

A war for a great principle ennobles a nation.

What is poetry which does not save nations or people?

Poetry does not consist of words alone there must be sentiment and fancy combination and arrangement.

Children seem naturally drawn to poetry - it's some combination of the rhyme rhythm and the words themselves.

In Australia not reading poetry is the national pastime.

I wanted to reimagine the role in a way that was respectful of its traditional responsibilities but made them part of a wider pattern of poetry about national incidents events preoccupations and to spend a great deal of time going to schools trying to demystify poetry.

With several different kinds of poetry to choose from a man would decide that he would like best to be an epic poet and he would set out in conscious determination on an epic poem.