I learned words, I learned words; but half of them died from lack of exercise. And the ones I use often look at me with a look that whispers, Liar.

I'm very gregarious, but I love being in the hills on my own.

However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry in him or her, to offer them help is like offering a propeller to a bird.

But I hang on to books. I love them. I even think they're very nice decor in a room - far better than paintings... That's not quite true!

When I go fishing I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of me.

I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of mimicry.

I used to fish the Border rivers, but nowadays you have to queue up for a shot and I can't stand that.

When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous.

And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so.

There are some friends you don't meet for twenty years and when you meet them again it's as if no twenty years has happened - you're lucky when that happens. I feel the same about books.

It's like breathing in and out to me. It's like having a conversation with someone who isn't there. Because it has to be addressed to somebody - not a particular person, or very rarely.

Just because fate finds us our perfect match doesn't mean it's always easy and we don't have to work at it. Anything worth having takes fighting for sometimes."- Victor Marius

Elvis is in the kitchen and he’s making eggs Benedict!

The Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.

The establishment of free trade agreements can be a critical and progressive step towards greater economic integration, and continues to become more valuable in an increasingly global world.

If you must get in trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont.

He made an enormous contribution to British politics in opposition and in government [on Robin Cook]

I wanted to be some kind of captain of industry. Then I wanted to be in advertising, and then I wanted to be a newspaper reporter.

I think that if you shake the tree, you ought to be around when the fruit falls to pick it up.

The more auditions you go on, the more you will learn not to take it personally.

We must acknowledge that bearing and raising children is not some pesky, peripheral activity that we engage in, but the whole point.