Seamus Heaney

Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained.

I'm not personally obsessed with death. At a certain age, the light that you live in is inhabited by the shades - it 'tis.

Anyone born and bred in Northern Ireland can't be too optimistic.

That is the definition of equal justice under law: everyone gets a fair shot, everyone pays their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

You put deadlines on people you really don't want, because that's how you feel about them.

Most reporters who come to me get their stories directly from press releases. Very few do what one would consider to be their professional duty.