In the words of the ancients, one should make his decision within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break through to the other side.

A lot of poets too live on the margins of social acceptance, they certainly aren't in it for the money. William Blake - only his first book was legitimately published.

I didn't get my degree at NYU; I got it later, they gave me an honourary one.

I think of poets as outlaw visionaries in a way.

When I get depressed, or anything, I go 'think of all the music I haven't even heard yet!' So, it's the one thing. Imagine the world without music. Man, just hand me a gun, will you?

If anyone tells you there is only one way, their way, get as far away from them as possible, both physically and philosophically.

It's hard to get lost if you don't know where you're going.

The beauty of life is in small details, not in big events.

Each one of us is a set of shifting molecules, spinning in ecstasy.

The counterculture is always repackaged and made into a product. It's part of America.

I prefer to be subcultural rather than mass-cultural. I'm not interested in hitting the vein of the mainstream.

He remembered the gracefulness with which she moved in battle—like liquid flesh. There was no one quite like his wife, and he never felt more triumphant and free than when he was in her company.

There is no more prideful creature than a man born poor.

The invisible things are the value system.

Every Mistake Teach Us a Lesson

Fear true fear is a savage frenzy. Of all the insanities of which we are capable it is surely the most cruel.

I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.

Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy.

I'm all in favor of poets telling about the process as much as they can. And many do.

As a teenager at high school, I felt like an outsider.

You're the cutest thing that I ever did see I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree