Once you start saying 'Let's talk political my own politics my own aspirations ' it can become not just distracting in that it takes time but it can become confusing and frustrating and is this now a political agenda or a governmental agenda.

As women have played an increasingly important role in politics there is no question that they've brought a different perspective focusing attention on a broader set of issues and building alliances with other women.

First I think more Americans need to declare their independence from partisan politics on both sides. The more that Americans declare their independence the more the parties will have to compete for their votes using reason rather than the hateful appeals.

Sometimes I wonder if we shall ever grow up in our politics and say definite things which mean something or whether we shall always go on using generalities to which everyone can subscribe and which mean very little.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

The mystic purchases a moment of exhilaration with a lifetime of confusion and the confusion is infectious and destructive. It is confusing and destructive to try and explain anything in terms of anything else poetry in terms of psychology.

But at the beginning it was clear to me that concrete poetry was peculiarly suited for using in public settings. This was my idea but of course I never really much got the chance to do it.

For me concrete poetry was a particular way of using language which came out of a particular feeling and I don't have control over whether this feeling is in me or not.

Poetry is but another form of inquiry into the nature of phenomena using with its own unique procedures and tools.

Have you ever heard a good joke? If you've ever heard someone just right with the right pacing then you're already on the way to poetry. It's about using words in very precise ways and using gesture.

You know in my music career there was a moment where the irony was just so heavy. There were people in my audience that were the reason I developed neuroses. These people that tortured my life were using my art my poetry as fuel for them to torture other people.

My films are an extension of my poetry using the white screen like the white page to be filled with images.

I was surrounded by nature and trying to come to terms with this blissful nature versus the inhumane mentality of war. People were being deluded by someone using the word peace.

Several studies and a number of public statements by senior military and political personalities testify that - except for disputes between the present nuclear states - all military conflicts as well as threats to peace can be dealt with using conventional weapons.

By focusing once and for all on helping the Palestinians build a free society I have no doubt that an historic compromise between Israelis and Palestinians can be reached and that peace can prevail.

But I do know focusing on the exterior doesn't make me happy. If I want peace and serenity it won't be reached by getting thinner or fatter.

Balance peace and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.

Music is a language and different people who come along are each using that language to do something different but all coming at it in a similar vein inasmuch as it's always community based and for the most part nonprofit. Most bands don't ever come within a mile of profit - clearly these people are not playing music to make money.

Nevertheless the passions whether violent or not should never be so expressed as to reach the point of causing disgust and music even in situations of the greatest horror should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it and thereby always remain music.

When you start using senses you've neglected your reward is to see the world with completely fresh eyes.

I'll go to see movies but I also love being at home on my couch and pausing every 10 minutes to pee.

Making movies was more a reaction to not being chosen for sports. Other kids were out there playing at whatever I was off making something blow up and filming it or making a mould of my sister's head using alginating plaster.

My movies are unadorned they're not particularly fancy I think they're kind of workmanlike in some ways focusing on the writing and the acting.

I woke up on the plane this morning and was turning on my phone and I had to put my pin number in. That's when I realized that since the age of 10 I've been using 2012 as my pin number. But now that I've won gold in the 2012 Olympics I've achieved that goal and for the first time in 14 years I'll have to change my pin.