I don't offend anyone, I don't use anyone, I don't exploit anyone.

I think that all my books are political, I think that I have a political body of work. I am essentially a political woman, but above all I am a poet. I am a poetess.

I think that if poetry is not a personal act, it's a pamphlet.

I think that one of the tasks of feminist women - mainly women of culture - in our time is to seek out those women who were only forgotten because they were women.

Prizes aren't essential. What is essential is poetry itself, it's what is said, it is clarity, it's loyalty, those are the essential values, the literary values.

I think the obligation of a poet is not to be in an ivory tower; it is not to be isolated but to be among people.

Men use women sexually. They use them, mistreat them, even from the point of view of vocabulary, the use of words. It baffles me.

You really are a ray of sunshine, aren’t you?

In 1930, the death rate for Milwaukee’s blacks was nearly 60 percent higher than the citywide rate, due in large part to poor housing conditions.

For you, it's gossip. For me, it's action.

Goodness is something chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.

What we have now - a world without [marine] reserves - is like a debit account where we withdraw all the time and we never make any deposit. Reserves are like savings accounts.

I don't understand how women can manage to get back in shape with a new baby and a job.

think about it: Romeo and Juliet bucked the system, and look where it got them. Superman has the hots for Lois Lane, when the better match, of course, would be with Wonder Woman.

I'm a very proud person.

Writing is a necessary thing for me, just to keep myself level. It has beneficial effects on my life.

Women were going back to work, they were assuming their own power. They didn't have time to sit under the dryer.