Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be the deeper must be its foundation.

I think women as well as men are concerned about jobs and the economy and spending and and other issues. They're concerned that when their kids graduate from college they have an economy and they have a future in this country and they they have the same opportunity that we've had and our grandparents have had.

I was really desperate. I don't know if you can remember back that far but when I went to graduate school they didn't want females in graduate school. They were very open about it. They didn't mince their words. But then I got in and I got my degree.

I was about to get a degree in economics when I accepted that I'd be a lousy businessman and if I didn't give acting a try I'd regret it for the rest of my life.

Even though I didn't get a business degree I enjoyed learning about economics.

If a student takes the whole series of my folklore courses including the graduate seminars he or she should learn something about fieldwork something about bibliography something about how to carry out library research and something about how to publish that research.

Yeah I spent about 20 years in a dorm room. It took me a while to graduate.

I think young writers should get other degrees first social sciences arts degrees or even business degrees. What you learn is research skills a necessity because a lot of writing is about trying to find information.

As the economy faces such difficulties more tough questions need to be asked about what the Tories would do if elected. Their ideology of free markets and small government needs challenging. That has to be part of our job.

Pretty much at all times music motivates me. How can I say this without sounding in any way proud of myself? Obviously I've always written songs that are critical of our government and talk about our times. Hopefully you attempt to be timeless while doing it.

I think people are confused about what the Tea Party is. I mean they were a broad cross-section of Americans who came together concerned about our debt and our spending. And they're interested in constitutional limited government. And so they're not one group of people. They're thousands of small groups all over the country.

As long as I don't write about the government religion politics and other institutions I am free to print anything.

When the news is good the BBC view is: 'Get the government out of the picture quickly don't allow them to say anything about it.' When the news is bad: 'Let's all dump on the government.'

Thankfully due to the United Kingdom and the commitment of the Westminster government we are able to ensure that money brought in whether it be from the City of London or from North Sea oil can be pooled and directed to wherever it is needed most. That is what being in the United Kingdom is all about.

I think that if we get back to some basic fundamental principles we can make sure that we resolve the issues. And I think that that's what the Tea Party was all about. It's getting back to a constitutional conservative government. And that is limited but it's also effective and efficient. I think that that's what we'll be able to do.

Let's be honest about this the liberal agenda with failed stimulus plans and government entitlement programs is crippling our economy and our quality of life.

The bringing-about of order is the first and fundamental task of government. We accept limits on our rights for the sake of a larger social compact all the time.