"The main facts in human life are five: birth, food, sleep, love and death."

"The fact is we can only love what we know personally. And we cannot know much. In public affairs, in the rebuilding of civilization, something less dramatic and emotional is needed, namely tolerance."

"The work of art assumes the existence of the perfect spectator, and is indifferent to the fact that no such person exists."

"The sort of poetry I seek resides in objects man can't touch."

"A visionary sees the unseen and knows shadows are only cast by the presence of light."

"I'm not for gay marriage, but I'm not for discriminating against people."

"Without in any way minimising the economic and psychological blow that people experience when they lose their jobs, the unemployed in affluent countries still have a safety net, in the form of social security payments, and usually free healthcare and free education for their children. They also have sanitation and safe drinking water."

"Knowledge is the gathering of scattered facts; wisdom is the synthesis of lived experience. Reflect upon this whenever doubt clouds your horizon — an essential principle for the reflective life."