Great poetry does not have to be technically intricate.

The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen for the reverberation.

Imitation, if it is not forgery, is a fine thing. It stems from a generous impulse, and a realistic sense of what can and cannot be done.

The lullaby is the spell whereby the mother attempts to transform herself back from an ogre to a saint.

Babies are not brought by storks and poets are not produced by workshops.

Hearing that the same men who brought us 'South Park' were mounting a musical to be called 'The Book of Mormon,' we were tempted to turn away, as from an inevitable massacre.

One does not become a guru by accident.

Windbags can be right. Aphorists can be wrong. It is a tough world.

In rap, as in most popular lyrics, a very low standard is set for rhyme; but this was not always the case with popular music.

My feeling is that poetry will wither on the vine if you don't regularly come back to the simplest fundamentals of the poem: rhythm, rhyme, simple subjects - love, death, war.

English poetry begins whenever we decide to say the modern English language begins, and it extends as far as we decide to say that the English language extends.

If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.

A small profit it better than a big loss

I learn the most from making my own mistakes.

Stimuli, however, do not act upon an indifferent organism.

It is possible that a wise and good man may be prevailed on to game; but it is impossi∣ble that a professed gamester should be a wise and good man.

The finest edge is made with the blunt whetstone.

If you're prosperous in soul, you'll be prosperous in whole, regardless of how many and how much physical possessions you have

We struggle with the complexities and avoid the simplicities.

Being attached to America these days is like being in a pen with a wounded bull.

Life is really beautiful.