Prizes aren't essential. What is essential is poetry itself, it's what is said, it is clarity, it's loyalty, those are the essential values, the literary values.

I think that all my books are political, I think that I have a political body of work. I am essentially a political woman, but above all I am a poet. I am a poetess.

I think that if poetry is not a personal act, it's a pamphlet.

I think that one of the tasks of feminist women - mainly women of culture - in our time is to seek out those women who were only forgotten because they were women.

I think the obligation of a poet is not to be in an ivory tower; it is not to be isolated but to be among people.

Men use women sexually. They use them, mistreat them, even from the point of view of vocabulary, the use of words. It baffles me.

I don't offend anyone, I don't use anyone, I don't exploit anyone.

If I'm getting on an airplane or anywhere, really, I have a lunch box and stuff. It's a running joke with my friends and family - everyone gives me lunch boxes for Christmas.

In 1982 when I showed up, the average age of the drivers in the series was something like 40, 41. The crowds were small. There was not much prize money. The competition wasn't very tight.

We must rid the world of the scourge of these agents of death and destruction

Most great fortunes are built slowly. They are based on the principle of compound interest, what Albert Einstein called, "The greatest power in the universe."

The interest of the landlord is always opposed to the interests of every other class in the community.

Meeting Justin Bieber was interesting. We were backstage at The Voice, and he was there premiering his "Boyfriend" music video. I was in six-inch heels, so I was towering over him like a giant.

People have to understand that unless social enterprise is experimental, it will not succeed in making a difference.

The truth is, we know so little about life, we don't really know what the good news is and what the bad news is.

If we want to be compassionate we must be conscious of the words we use. We must both speak and listen from the heart.

What most of all enables a man to serve the public is not wealth, but content and independence; which, requiring no superfluity at home, distracts not the mind from the common good.