The country already has a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy. We have to offer an alternative vision.

Television is democracy at its ugliest.

The poetry and transgression that was so much of surrealism's anarchic force has been recruited into mainstream culture. It has been made commonplace by television and magazine merchandising by computer games and Internet visuals by film and MTV by the fashion shoot.

A lyric it is true is the expression of personal emotion but then so is all poetry and to suppose that there are several kinds of poetry differing from each other in essence is to be deceived by wholly artificial divisions which have no real being.

Bleak House is just the most astounding piece of work. There's huge visionary poetry in it.

America was based on a poetic vision. What will happen when it loses its poetry?

I knew what book we had to write it was clear in my head it was journals and poetry. So I passed on their offer. I told my agent this is our vision and no one's done it this way.

Poetry is not only a set of words which are chosen to relate to each other it is something which goes much further than that to provide a glimpse of our vision of the world.

One of the gaps in our international development efforts is the provision of global public goods - that is goods or conditions we need that no individual or country can secure on their own such as halting global warming financial stability and peace and security.

For me to propose a division of Jerusalem was really terrible. I did it because I reached a conclusion that without which there will not be peace.