Life must not be a novel that is given to us, but one that is made by us.

Humanity is the higher meaning of our planet, the nerve that connects this part of it with the upper world, the eye it raises to heaven.

Humanity is a comic role.

Many books are longer than they seem. They have indeed no end. The boredom that they cause is truly absolute and infinite.

The artist stands on the human being as a statue does on a pedestal.

I have a strong theory that you can tell a lot about someone by their coffee order

I'm just not a natural teacher.

The French, for example, are a contemptible nation.

I wonder whether she was sorry for leaving us behind.

The Universe totally supports every thought I choose to think and to believe. I have unlimited choices about what I think. I choose balance, harmony, and peace, and I express it in my life.

No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate, they know that this is the place that we were born and raised.

Theory and harmony broadened my mind in music. I know what music is made of.

Overstraining is the enemy of accomplishment. Calm strength that arises from a deep and inexhaustible source is what brings success.

Now [after election] where it goes into violence, I have a zero tolerance for riots.

There's nothing compared to the history of writing about the city of New York that you get, say, in Charles Reznikoff.