Religion should be a source for reconciliation, for tolerance and for empathy.

[M]ore wars have been waged, more people killed, and more evil perpetrated in the name of religion than by any other institutional force in human history. The sad truth continues in our present day.

Blind obedience is a sure sign of trouble. The likelihood of religion becoming evil is greatly diminished when there is freedom for individual thinking and when honest inquiry is encouraged.

It is easier to know the truth than to seek the truth.

Demanding historical (or scientific) veracity as a prerequisite for truth is another kind of tunnel vision. To do so is to mistake poetry for prose.

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.

The truth is, immigrants tend to be more American than people born here.

What I made depended on what I found on the street. At least in the beginning, my materials came from the street.

All those layers of silence upon silence.

Family pride entertains many unsocial opinions.

It's all flags, fireworks, family, food and fun That's July Four July Five, the fun is done The fireworks are no more

In that you're wrong. I choose, I adhere, I pursue, I commit, I attain. That - that, my errant friend - is an absolute." - Hawk

Whenever I get lost in a novel I just throw a poem in. What it does is flare up, and it's so illuminated that I'm able to see where to go. I write between these illuminations.

If I say that God is good, that is not true. God is not good. I am good, and if I say that God is wise, that is not true. I am wiser than he is.

Life is a series of family photos in which you keep moving to the rear until finally you're a portrait in the background.