"Kindness is loving people more than they deserve."

"Children need models more than they need critics."

"You will find poetry nowhere unless you bring some of it with you."

"The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress."

"I do not believe the picture that some people paint of Scottish towns dependent on welfare. Every time I come here, I meet people who are determined to get into work. Who, with the right help are desperate to get off benefits, support their family and set an example for their children."

"I often find myself privately stewing about much British art, thinking that except for their tremendous gardens, that the English are not primarily visual artists, and are, in nearly unsurpassable ways, literary."

"The art of living is discovering that the only true currency in life is time well spent."

"Sometimes I feel like rap music is almost the key to stopping racism."