I guess, is we are not saying, "Look, William Shakespeare's written a critique of modern Africa." What we're saying is that we've shifted the metaphor to make it more immediate.

Really what Brutus and Cassius do by assassinating Caesar, is open up a vacuum into which much more ruthless people run. Julius Caesar is an amazingly contemporary, resonant, politically astute play.

I have found more inspiration in the cottages of fishermen than in the palaces of the rich.

He who sings scares away his woes.

I think that one of the benefits of optimism and idealism is that they lead you into things you would never have tried if you'd let yourself imagine how hard it was going to turn out to be.

I chose a man and he chose me

It is better to have a lion at the head of an army of sheep than a sheep at the head of an army of lions.

Taste, that eternal wanderer, which flies From head to ears, and now from ears to eyes.

I prefer clarity over agreement

May I say that I approve of a piece that tries to remake the entire puzzle?

Talent is like money; you don't have to have some to talk about it.

Many of my poems try to use a comic element to reach a place that isn't comic at all. The comic element works as a surprise. It is unexpected and energizing.