Nothing whips my blood like verse.

It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there.

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It is not what you say that matters but the manner in which you say it; there lies the secret of the ages.

The job of the poet is to use language effectively, his own language, the only language which is to him authentic.

The weight of love Has buoyed me up Till my head Knocks against the sky.

As birds' wings beat the solid air without which none could fly so words freed by the imagination affirm reality by their flight.

It is not fair to be old, to put on a brown sweater.

There is nothing beginning nor end to the imagination but it delights in its own seasons reversing the usual order at will.

My first poem was a bolt from the blue … it broke a spell of disillusion and suicidal despondence. ... it filled me with soul satisfying joy.

Somewhere the sense makes copper roses steel roses — The rose carried weight of love but love is at an end — of roses It is at the edge of the petal that love waits.

I was thinking of how sometimes, trying to say the right thing to people, it's like some kind of brain surgery...

Stand up for what's right for you when the time's right. Wake up to grab it as soon as possible. Shake up when you wake up

Our past may shape us, but it doesn't define us.

Stop living in fear. Enjoy life while you are still living. You are stronger than your obstacles and greater than your positive imagination.

When it's hard and you are doubtful, give more.

All things in their beeing are good for something.

People with humility don't think less of themselves, they just think of themselves less.

When I broke in, in 1957, it was wide open. Now you're up against strong competition.

My idea of magic doesn't have much to do with stage tricks and illusions. The whole world abounds in magic.

You can't change who you are, so I think that the only thing you can do is just never talk to people about stuff and then hope that maybe does something.