Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare - and precious as a pearl.

People must insist on the right to say no, to be alone, to stand out from the herd. Creative artists can say all this in their own way and in their own field, by hard, rigorous work.

Religion has to stay in the heart, not in politics. It is private.

I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer.

Real friendship, like real poetry, is extremely rare - and precious as a pearl.

Most of those who died did not die of hunger but of hatred. Feeling hatred diminishes you. It eats at your from within and attacks the immune system. When you have hatred inside you, it always crushes you in the end.

It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn.