If Greece had gone through a very normal political life I may have not been in politics. But just the fact that I lived through huge upheavals and very difficult struggles and polarization and the barbarism of dictatorships - that made me feel that we had to change this country.

I just worry a lot. I'm a worrier. Michelle and Barack are really dear to me. I mean I love them. And I don't want to see them get hurt. Just the nature of politics is hurtful. So every time they are hurt I get hurt. It's a lot to ask of people and it's a lot to see your friends go through. It's hard not to get emotional.

As a society I think we express our cultural mores through our politics. We're trying constantly to figure out what's OK and what's not OK. And it's hard because our society is constantly buffeted by gale force winds of technology. Things are always changing.

We are naive and moralistic women. We are human beings who find politics a blight upon the human condition. And do not know how one copes with it except through politics.

It's true that it's within the realm of cultural politics that young people tend to work through political issues which I think is good although it's not going to solve the problems.

Well Australia's been in Afghanistan from the get go way back in 2001 but we have been resolute throughout and with support from both sides of Australian politics.

You have to believe that it's through politics that societies can lead social and economic and political change.

There will be no politics no ifs and buts if we see something and feel that work needs to be done we will get people here we can rely on and ensure it is done in the same thorough way as our other projects.

The Labour party has done more than any other to address gender inequalities through legislation and other means and to increase women's representation in politics which has led to recent increases in the number of female politicians.

The lesson of the last year is this: foreign policy can't be managed through the politics of personality and our President would do well to take note of an observation John F. Kennedy made once he was in office - that all of the world's problems aren't his predecessor's fault.

As women have played an increasingly important role in politics there is no question that they've brought a different perspective focusing attention on a broader set of issues and building alliances with other women.

Flipping the dial through available radio stations there will blare out to any listener an array of broadcasts 24/7 propagating Religious Right politics along with what they deem to be 'old-time gospel preaching.' This is especially true of what comes over the airwaves in Bible Belt southern states.

I think things changed as a result of a certain perception of our politics. When we went through our zealous self-righteous period it didn't exactly win us any friends.

We discussed politics but we also talked about the importance of hard work personal responsibility living within your means keeping your word. Those lessons stay with you throughout your life.

Politics is like football if you see daylight go through the hole.

You don't go after poetry you take what comes. Maybe the gods do it through me but I certainly do a hell of a lot of the work.

Poetry comes alive to me through recitation.

Well I had this little notion - I started writing when I was eleven writing poetry. I was passionately addicted to it it was my great refuge through adolescence.

He passes from lyric to epic poetry in order to speak about the world and the torment in the world through man rationally and emotionally. The poet then becomes a danger.

I have experienced healing through other writers' poetry but there's no way I can sit down to write in the hope a poem will have healing potential. If I do I'll write a bad poem.

I'm conscious of a series of circles working its way through my life. And at this particular moment I have come round to the beginning of my writing cycle. It begins with poetry. There's hardly a day that goes past on which I don't write poetry.

Most people read poetry listening for echoes because the echoes are familiar to them. They wade through it the way a boy wades through water feeling with his toes for the bottom: The echoes are the bottom.

Anticipating that most poetry will be worse than carrying heavy luggage through O'Hare Airport the public to its loss reads very little of it.

I did not have a very literary background. I came to poetry from the sciences and mathematics and also through an interest in Japanese and Chinese poetry in translation.