Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.

There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.

I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding.

All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, This is when I became myself.

A good poem is like a bouillon cube. It's concentrated and it nourishes you when you need it.

Courage has nothing to do with our determination to be great. It has to do with what we decide in that moment when we are called upon to be more.

Being true to yourself really means being true to all the complexities of the human spirit.

We should always do something that makes us feel like a child again. Keep learning, no matter what it is.

The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world.

I've always been intrigued by the way history works, the way we decide what is mentioned.

Sometimes a word is found so right it trembles at the slightest explanation.

Katie, honey, you need a date for your sister’s wedding.”“I had a date, Mom. He’s marrying the bride.

E.L. James. Best damn author of our time, if you ask me. She really nailed it with that tampon scene. Pure enlightenment.

You now have permission to be strong and healthy and calm and relaxed. There's no place else to go. There's nothing else to do.

I don't mind genre names. "Chillwave" is probably the last thing I would think of, but I don't mind it.

There is a ghost That eats hankerchiefs; It keeps you company On all your travels.

Oh, I get it," I said. "It's a parable. Cute. Let's go eat.

stay as strong as you can and during the times you can't, let other people be strong for you.

Logic sometimes makes monsters. For half a century we have seen a mass of bizarre functions which appear to be forced to resemble as little as possible honest functions which serve some purpose.

I am not dead inside. I still care about right and wrong.

Acting like you don't care is not letting it go.