Winners make a habit of manufacturing their own positive expectations in advance of the event.

Rush Limbaugh we expect nonsense from him. But the Vatican that's another story. When the Vatican is so threatened that it launches attacks on nuns well you know what they say in politics a hit dog hollers.

The one thing we can all be sure about in politics is you are as well to expect the unexpected.

If you have embraced a creed which appears to be free from the ordinary dirtiness of politics - a creed from which you yourself cannot expect to draw any material advantage - surely that proves that you are in the right?

If we ask a vague question such as 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague answer such as 'Poetry is the music of words ' or 'Poetry is the linguistic correction of disorder.'

The fact of the matter is that the most unexpected and miraculous thing in my life was the arrival in it of poetry itself - as a vocation and an elevation almost.

A public expectation it has to be said not of poetry as such but of political positions variously approvable by mutually disapproving groups.

Traditional matter must be glorified since it would be easier to listen to the re-creation of familiar stories than to quite new and unexpected things the listeners we must remember needed poetry chiefly as the re-creation of tired hours.

A poem can have an impact but you can't expect an audience to understand all the nuances.

No poem is easily grasped so why should any reader expect fast results?

Well I think by any expectation South Africa has come a tremendously long way. We've seen a society that many people thought couldn't withstand a peaceful transition to democracy without a great deal of violence in fact make that transition and do it in relative peace and security.

Afghanistan is very satisfied with Croatia's participation in the NATO-led peace mission and expects Croatia to expand its contribution to peace restoration in Afghanistan to other areas as well.

What they could do with 'round here is a good war. What else can you expect with peace running wild all over the place? You know what the trouble with peace is? No organization.

Across the country military families are facing dire financial circumstances due to longer than expected tours of duties. They are being penalized for their patriotism - no one should have to choose between doing right by their country and doing right by their families.

Sometimes they are a matter of luck the photographer could not expect or hope for them. Sometimes they are a matter of patience waiting for an effect to be repeated that he has seen and lost or for one that he anticipates.

We criticize mothers for closeness. We criticize fathers for distance. How many of us have expected less from our fathers and appreciated what they gave us more? How many of us always let them off the hook?

Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected momentary and fleeting yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains.

Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and repeat to yourself the most comforting words of all this too shall pass.

The thing about movies these days is that the commerce end of it is so inflated and financiers are just expecting this enormous return on their investment.

I've directed seven movies and know a thing or two about dealing with unexpected crises.

In life and in movies it's a similar challenge where you have expectations and you end up in situations that are not meeting your expectations.

You can't expect to hit the jackpot if you don't put a few nickels in the machine.

Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.

It really means a lot that I won the gold medal - but I woke up the next morning expecting to feel different. I felt the same.