I liked beaches, swimming pools, and clinics for there they were the bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. I pitied them and myself, but this will not protect me. The word and the thought are over.

In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.

The voice of passion is better than the voice of reason. The passionless cannot change history.

The purpose of poetry is to remind us how difficult it is to remain just one person, for our house is open, there are no keys in the doors, and invisible guests come in and out at will.

The soul exceeds its circumstances.

Not that I want to be a god or a hero. Just to change into a tree, grow for ages, not hurt anyone.

Consolation Calm down. Both your sins and your good deeds will be lost in oblivion.

Do not feel safe. The poet remembers. You can kill one, but another is born. The words are written down, the deed, the date.

The history of my stupidity would fill many volumes.

When a writer is born into a family, the family is finished.

I am composed of contradictions, which is why poetry is a better form for me than philosophy

I just can't fathom why anyone would stand on a ledge when there's a respectable amount of walking space right next to it.

What other knowledge will my solitude and muteness bring? What other worlds?

...a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods.

You can't get a movie made without a script; it's the blueprint to your building.

Everyone knows that there are more people watching any given show than is being registered by the Nielsen system.

Writing about craft has forced me to think more about my own writing technique, and to break down my process in ways that have been enormously helpful to me.

On my discharge, I had the challenge of putting my life back together but Vietnam stuck in the inner recesses of my mind.

Working as an editor was like being a professional reader, and the better I became at reading the better I became at writing.

I feel like I'm living in the dead weeds of hip-hop. I live in the graveyard of what went wrong with hip-hop.

Wise man is a good Sherpa; he takes you to the highest places!