Life, alas, is very drear. Up with the glass! Down with the beer!

Every poet knows the pun is Pierian, that it springs from the same soil as the Muse?a matching and shifting of vowels and consonants, an adroit assonance sometimes derided as jackassonance.

God, though this life is but a wraith, Although we know not what we use, Although we grope with little faith, Give me the heart to fight and lose.

Friendship is like love at its best; not blind but sympathetically all-seeing; a support which does not wait for understanding; an act of faith which does not need, but always has, reason.

Write out of love, write out of instinct, write out of reason. But always for money.

Poetry is the power of defining the indefinable in terms of the unforgettable.

Nothing but blackness above And nothing that moves but the cars... God, if you wish for our love, Fling us a handful of stars!

Come, drink the mystic wine of Night, Brimming with silence and the stars; While earth, bathed in this holy light, Is seen without its scars.

Laughter shall drown the raucous shout; And, though these shelt'ring walls are thin, May they be strong to keep hate out And hold love in.

Why has our poetry eschewed The rapture and response of food? What hymns are sung, what praises said For home-made miracles of bread?

From compromise and things half done, Keep me with stern and stubborn pride; And when at last the fight is won, God, keep me still unsatisfied.

Research shows that when women are empowered as political leaders, countries often experience higher standards of living with positive developments in education, infrastructure, and health care.

Other people's perspective, just seeing the sexy image, might be that I take my sexuality very seriously. But I really don't. I like being sexy. It's fun, and I have had a nice little career off it.

The greater the stupidity, the greater the clarity. Stupidity is brief and guileless, while wit equivocates and hides. Wit is a scoundrel, while stupidity is honest and sincere.

I used to act in college, but always comedy. Didn't do [William] Shakespeare - did Ben Jonson.

Distrust your judgment the moment you can discern the shadow of a personal motive in it.

Our first work must be the annihilation of everything as it now exists.

Defining the terms of the debate generally dictates who's gonna' win it.

Have the confidence to be your own person.

A concrete agenda and landslide victory might not even guarantee a president his mandate in a capital as polarized as Washington.