I think the language of science is highly lyrical and evocative and an important part of our lives in many ways.

I have thought for many years that the audience any creative writer imagines has a great effect on what gets written.

One of the most important differences I see between prose and poetry is the music of the language.

I see my poems as interlinked. No poem gives an answer. It may offer other questions, it may instigate other questions that then become poems.

The poem is a process, a way for me to discover questions, to ask them clearly or to discover the results of certain suppositions. Suppositions are a form of questioning.

Poetry doesn't function by saying things straightforwardly because the language is too imprecise, too limited often, to address the underlying subject of most poems.

Often when I write poetry I don't quite know what I'm saying myself. I mean, I can't restate the poem. The meaning of the poem is the poem.

My object when writing prose is to write as clearly as possible. I think I know what I'm saying in prose, and I want others to understand it and to be able to restate it.

The greatest tragedy that can befall a poet is to be praised by being misunderstood.

I think parts of my soul have been saved by my writing, not in the sense of escaping death, but escaping the death of the moment, perhaps.

I've spent much of my life being attuned to watching for an image or a phrase that can trigger what might be a poem - could become a poem.

We're all just wandering souls searching for a heart to call home...

I think you learn more about yourself in the context of a relationship than you can outside of it.

Eyes are very appealing to me. I also like somebody who is interested in a career for themselves and can treat me like a normal person.

For me, fiscal realism is not a betrayal of Labour values; it is the foundation by which we win the trust of the public.

The world belongs to optimists; the pessimists are only spectators.

Children understand and remember concepts best when they learn from direct personal experience.

In For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway cozies up to revolution by romanticizing it (and not only with those execrable love scenes).

I definitely think that fashion is a form of art and love that people can express themselves through what they wear.

I love interaction with audiences. If were my choice, I would spend most of my time interacting with audiences. Walking around and asking them to challenge me.

Selfishness makes Christmas a burden; Love makes it a delight. The joy of brightening a child's heart creates the magic of Christmas.