I have always used the world of make-believe with a certain desperation.

The purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences.

I long to speak out the intense inspiration that comes to me from the lives of strong women.

No man ever looks at the world with pristine eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking.

The happiest excitement in life is to be convinced that one is fighting for all one is worth on behalf of some clearly seen and deeply felt good, and against some greatly scorned evil.

A man's indebtedness is not virtue; his repayment is. Virtue begins when he dedicates himself actively to the job of gratitude.

Racism remains in the eyes of history ... merely another instance of the persecution of minorities for the advantage of those in power.

The trouble with life isn't that there is no answer, it's that there are so many answers.

Our faith in the present dies out long before our faith in the future.

The trouble is not that we are never happy-it is that happiness is so episodical.

liberty is the one thing no man can have unless he grants it to others.

contemporary poetry is a kind of Reykjavik, a place where accessibility and intelligence have been fighting a Cold War by proxy for the last half-century.

Freedom is the most sophisticated form of control. The best lies use the truth.

[Barack] Obama is in incompetent, as a president, he's about as bad as it gets.

I don't like my men to be too ornate. I like them to stand back and let their women shine, and they should really wear the pants in the relationship.

Strong relationships are not rocked by a truth that is grounded by resolute monogamy.

Either get out of bed or else take your clothes off," he said. "I'm not in the mood to compromise.

Why did we get together? Because God wanted us to do it. We were just trying to do what God wants us to do. We didn't feel like we had much of a choice.

My mother had to justify the fact that she had heart pills.

Love and death are the great gifts that are given to us; mostly they are passed on unopened.

It is not the man who has little, but he who desires more, that is poor.