[Kenneth Koch] taught us to be playful, to be very appreciative of other poets, to appreciate all forms of expression. He taught us to be experimental.

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.

I have learned that if you have something to say, say it regardless, no matter what the outcome is, it will serve you, eventually.

The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones, and the age of oil won’t end because we run out of oil.

The person who knows everything has the most to learn.

We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community - and this nation.

I'd like to grow very old as slowly as possible.

How sad it must be for you to be nothing more than a hollow statue, to have your tomb preserved and your story forgotten.

You will be old-fashioned one day. It's more shocking than getting old.

That's the great secret of humans: we're all the same person. The best thing to do is just go for the hug.

The mind begins to boggle at unnatural substances as things paradoxical and incomprehensible.

Nothing works unless you do the work.