The positive news is that the British economy is continuing to grow and is creating jobs. And it is positive news too that at a time of real international instability we are a safe haven in the storm.

Every week I read about myself in a magazine about something that I haven't done or some place that I've never been or don't even know. It's just gossip rumors egos and politics.

I think what's fascinating is how many people are playing in politics who maybe haven't played before.

I haven't been very active in politics.

Concrete poets continue to turn out beautiful things but to me they're more visual than oral and they almost really belong on the wall rather than in a book. I haven't the least idea of where poetry is going.

And if they haven't got poetry in them there's nothing you can do that will produce it.

People who keep dogs are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves.

I haven't got a lot of patience.

Everything is out there if you know how to find it and have the patience. I don't and haven't but that's my problem.

I haven't been given many things but I've been given ample limitless patience.

I have one piece of music since 1997 and I don't see it having lyrics. Where does it go in this world? So I haven't recorded it.

I haven't heard any music on the BBC World Service in a long time. Maybe I'm listening at the wrong times. But not one single piece of music.

In the course of transferring all my CDs to my iPod I have found myself wandering the musical hallways of my past and reacquainting myself with music I haven't listened to in years.

Lyrics are the only thing to do with music that haven't been made easier technically.

People haven't always been there for me but music always has.

I feel good about being able to take bluegrass on to television like 'Letterman' and 'The View ' and I've heard nice things about being able to do that. I really haven't felt any negativity toward me or my music.

I've accomplished enough with the music that I haven't had to go out there and do other things to over-saturate.

I'm pretty horrible at relationships and haven't been in many long-term ones. Leaving and moving on - returning to a familiar sense of self-reliance and autonomy - is what I know that feeling is as comfortable and comforting as it might be for a different kind of person to stay.

If you look at anybody who's had along career if you look at the choices they've made - even if the movies haven't worked - they've always worked with great filmmakers.

Well I haven't really been able to shoot in California for a while. Little movies yeah but the big movies we can't shoot there. It's just a shame that Arnold Schwarzenegger can't deliver on this level.

I don't always see my movies right away. And there are some I haven't seen at all. Sometimes that bothers the directors so I'm obliged to see them.

I don't watch the movies I make so I haven't seen 'Footloose' since it came out. You see this young hungry actor it's pretty fun. I was the only one they screen tested. It was an attempt by the director and producer to talk the head of the studio into hiring me because they didn't want me.

I've been asked to do action-oriented movies in the past and they just haven't been right for me.

I've been on so many movies. Generally I haven't gotten to be on the ground level. As of two years ago in 'Dear John ' I got to really be on the ground floor. I wasn't a producer. I felt like I put the work in and I did have a lot of sway on what got fixed reshoots so on and so forth. It felt really good.