[The Republicans] looked at basically the failed wars and they said, oh, this, us being the policeman of the world, that is not working.

If an abduction is reported, it is dealt with in the same way as a kidnap.

There is always strength in numbers. The more individuals or organizations that you can rally to your cause, the better.

George Washington was the president who could never tell a lie, and Richard Nixon was the president who could never tell the truth. Donald Trump is truly the president who can't tell the difference.

As Bill Clinton said so eloquently at the convention, during Vietnam there was a chance to serve; there was a chance not to serve.

The problem with smear campaigns is that too often they work.

There's nothing wrong with being organized.Things that change history tend to be organized.

You've got people who didn't serve with John Kerry saying they did serve with John Kerry in the boat. With George Bush, we can't find anybody who did serve with him.

John McCain has become the de facto running mate of George W. Bush.

Everybody who served in John Kerry's boat under his command save one has stood with him.

You have to understand that Republicans are on lockstep on one issue. They will not raise taxes. Democrats are in lockstep on another issue, pro-choice in all cases on abortion.

Where does your soul walk?

We are troubled by having two selves, the inner and the outer. The outer one is rather dull and lets great things go by.

All the most difficult problems become easy when we find the solutions.

To live the life the gods have given you, you must clutch wisely, then run. Run like the houds of hell on a sinner's scent!

Why do we always think our pain will be less if we can make others suffer more?

Among the American contemporaries I read with most enjoyment are several North Carolinians. I think the best poetry being written these days is being written by Southerners.

Writers are such phonies: they sometimes have wise insights but they don't live by them at all. That's what writers are like...you think they know something, but usually they are just messes.

I want to be remembered as a guy who tried his best and did his best

The problem that I have is with the music business. For some reason it seems almost impossible to get anything, any music, released which includes improvisation or soloing.

Loss leaves us empty - but learn not to close your heart and mind in grief. Allow life to replenish you. When sorrow comes it seems impossible - but new joys wait to fill the void.