If I cry it's about the personal loss of a friend or something like that. But when it comes to politics - no I don't cry.

The lesson of the last year is this: foreign policy can't be managed through the politics of personality and our President would do well to take note of an observation John F. Kennedy made once he was in office - that all of the world's problems aren't his predecessor's fault.

I have some very personal feelings about politics but I don't get into it because I do comedy already.

I think that politics could be a positive thing. My beef is that people focus on the personal aspect of a politician too much. They should focus on the results.

We discussed politics but we also talked about the importance of hard work personal responsibility living within your means keeping your word. Those lessons stay with you throughout your life.

I think that you can disagree with people and debate over their positions with issues without engaging in the politics of personal destruction.

This career essentially chased me down while I was on the spoken-word scene in New York. I kept hearing that my delivery of my poetry - which was very personal and cathartic at the time- was very moving to folks. People thought that I was an actress because of my delivery when I was just dropping into the work and really pouring out my soul.

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.

I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality.

I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony.