I was reading the poems of Rochester. Rochester made himself out to be bisexual, but I think that was only to shock. Most of his poetry is sexual, even pornographic.

I was much influenced by Jean-Paul Sartre.

A literary influence is never just a literary influence. It's also an influence in the way you see everything - in the way you feel your life.

I was at a benefit for some imprisoned students in the '60s at San Francisco State, and there were lots of poets reading for the benefit: one was Elizabeth Bishop.

I don't know how to sit outside myself and test against a hypothetical self who stayed home.

Deep feeling doesn't make for good poetry. A way with language would be a bit of help.

As humans we look at things and think about what we've looked at. We treasure it in a kind of private art gallery.

I try not to observe myself in the process of composing a poem because I don't want to come up with a formula, which I would then be unscrupulous in using.

I deliberately decided to write a kind of guide to leather bars for straight people, for people not into leather, so that people could see what it was all about.

My thoughts are crowded with death and it draws so oddly on the sexual that I am confused to be attracted by, in effect, my own annihilation.

There have been two popular subjects for poetry in the last few decades: the Vietnam War and AIDS, about both of which almost all of us have felt deeply.

Don’t wait for big opportunities. You can create small but wonderful ones by starting with what you have.

Stop seeking advice from bitter people, because they would for the most part contribute to making your situation worse.

When we speak of the Path we mean much more than a course of study. The Path is a way of life and on it the whole being must co-operate if the heights are to be won.

Your top priority needs to be—first and foremost—eating fresh, chemical-free produce and keeping your busy family healthy.

You know what they call the guy who finishes last in medical school? They call him Doctor!

I am a temperance Republican down to my toes.

The good man has his enemies. He would not be like His Lord if he had not. If we were without enemies we might fear that we were not the friends of God, for friendship of the world is enmity to God.

One must not live one's life through men but must be complete on oneself as a woman of substance.

The only sort of descriptive adjective or catch phrase for my music would be 'eclectic.'

I am my own judge of what truths I shall tell. The truth can do just as much harm as a lie.