We don't tend to write about disease in fiction - not just teen novels but all American novels - because it doesn't fit in with our idea of the heroic romantic epic. There is room only for sacrifice heroism war politics and family struggle.

I did not resign from politics because of Bofors. I resigned because I do not know how to play petty politics. I did not know back then and I don't know now either.

When you're young with less on the line it's easier to be audacious to experiment. So I introduced the concerns of my generation - politics sex drugs rock-and-roll etc. - to the comics page which for many years caused a rolling furor.

About 25 years ago I started out as a reporter covering politics. And that sort of just evolved into organized crime because organized crime and politics were the same thing in Boston.

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.

As I've gotten older I've gotten more liberal and my father is increasingly conservative. It's so shocking to me because I always thought we had the same politics. The day I realized we voted for different presidents I practically fell out of my chair.

Acting is fun and I refuse to get involved in the semantics and the politics of strategy and breaking out of something or doing something because you need to do something else. For me it's all about what fuels my soul and if I'm passionate about a screenplay then that's what I'll do next.

I always wanted to work at 'Take A Break' magazine you know just to inject a little bit of politics into their stories. I applied for a job there after I'd done my law degree and didn't even get an interview. I only wrote 'Garnethill' because I didn't get that job!

I was very aware of office politics because I was so baffled by them. So much so goes unsaid. No one says 'you're a cheeky so-and-so ' no one says 'you're so moody ' nobody ever confronts anyone else about anything. But I'm very crass and I'm very confrontational and I have a temper. I had to be hyper-vigilant in every office I worked in.

I've done reasonably well over the last 10 years because I took the strategy of language and politics and applied it to the corporate world which has never been done before.

I was really fascinated by politics. It always has been part of my view that politics really is a calling or you wouldn't go into it because it's demanding and potentially has a toll on you and your family.

I think one of the most threatening places to be in politics is a black conservative because there are so many liberals who want to continue to reinforce a stereotype that doesn't exist about America.

I know my limitations and I don't like politics. I was only involved because of my husband.

I'm not very active politically. The causes I work on offer immediate practical accessible help and politics has never meant that to me.

Right now we have no possibility of politics because we have a one-party state.

The only reason to be in politics is public service. There's no other reason. Frankly if that's the best job you can get in terms of money that's too bad you know. Because frankly it's not well paid everyone knows that. So for most people it's a big sacrifice.

I became active in politics because I saw the possibility if we all sat back and did nothing of a world in which there would no longer be any stages for actors to act on.

I came into politics because I wished to change things. You can't do that by lying to people you have to educate and persuade and carry them with you - and it's often a long haul.

People are fed up with the politics where candidates just rip each other apart and then the voters lose in the end because no one really knows what anybody stands for.

The only thing I have no control over is the politics that goes on within the record company. It's always been the same but it's far tougher now because record companies are run by financial people before they were run by creative people.

I can't see why anyone would want to be in politics because you get so much criticism.

Regardless of Bill Clinton's politics or personal life he grew up in obscurity and was elected to the presidency - twice. Don't take that away from him because then you take it away from every other kid in America sitting out there in a school bus with a big dream.

In almost every country there are elements of opinion which would welcome such a conclusion because they wish to return to the politics of the balance of power unrestricted and unregulated armaments international anarchy and preparation for war.

I'm not going to talk like I know about politics because I'm a total amateur but maybe I can be a spokesperson for people who aren't normally interested in politics.