The reason most of the children are having problems in any inner-city neighborhood is because they don't see enough positive role models in their own environment.

The nature of catastrophe is after all reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins destroys wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event - not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics - then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light.

The dumber half of the audience - whether they're male or female and a lot of them are male - for some reason responds very quickly to the feminine voice. How can I put it? They kind of instantly react to the female voice in a positive way quicker than they would the male voice.

It's useless to try and make rhyme or reason of it because one guy thinks one thing and the other guy sees a whole other thing. So I try not to take them too seriously. Lately I have them screened so I only read the positive ones.

The only reason we make good role models is because you guys look up to athletes and we can influence you in positive ways. But the real role models should be your parents and teachers!

Why should conservationists have a positive interest in... farming? There are lots of reasons but the plainest is: Conservationists eat.

But reason always cuts a poor figure beside sentiment the one being essentially restricted like everything that is positive while the other is infinite.

If one of my boys was asking me if they should go into politics I'd say there's only one reason to go into public life and that's to help people.

In politics it seems retreat is honorable if dictated by military considerations and shameful if even suggested for ethical reasons.

I've done reasonably well over the last 10 years because I took the strategy of language and politics and applied it to the corporate world which has never been done before.

The only reason to be in politics is public service. There's no other reason. Frankly if that's the best job you can get in terms of money that's too bad you know. Because frankly it's not well paid everyone knows that. So for most people it's a big sacrifice.

We need to dig deep and give people a reason to be optimistic just as Obama is doing in America. Because in the same way that outcome of the U.S. elections will change the course of events there and around the world so too do politics here in Britain.

If there is one eternal truth of politics it is that there are always a dozen good reasons for doing nothing.

It's a good question because a movie isn't good or bad based on its politics. It's usually good or bad for other reasons though you might agree or disagree with its politics.

I was in the Commons recently and saw a young lady wearing a nice pair of shoes. I said I liked them and she said my shoes were the reason she became involved in politics.

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo to serve the common good and to leave this nation better than we found it.

And yet there are still people in American politics who for some reason cling to this belief that America is better off adopting the economic policies of nations whose people who immigrate here from there.

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.

What is a wife and what is a harlot? What is a church and what is a theatre? are they two and not one? Can they exist separate? Are not religion and politics the same thing? Brotherhood is religion. O demonstrations of reason dividing families in cruelty and pride!

Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared. And the country's scared.

Reporters thrive on the world's misfortune. For this reason they often take an indecent pleasure in events that dismay the rest of humanity.

Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?

Liberalism is I think resurgent. One reason is that more and more people are so painfully aware of the alternative.

One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and power are.