The poet should try to give his poem the quiet swiftness of flame, so that the reader will feel and not think while he is reading. But the thinking will come afterwards.

There is a quiet at the heart of love, And I have pierced the pain and come to peace.

I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree If mankind perished utterly; And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn, Would scarcely know that we were gone.

Take love when love is given.

No one worth possessing can be quite possessed.

My soul is a broken field, plowed by pain.

It is strange how often a heart must be broken Before the years can make it wise.

I found more joy in sorrow than you could find in joy.

The leaves fall patiently Nothing remembers or grieves The river takes to the sea The yellow drift of leaves.

Wisdom is not acquired save as the result of investigation.

Great deeds, great blessings.

When I looked at myself through the prism of awareness, great tears came as I connected with how this wounded child felt.

Sufism is known by means of itself.

When I was a kid, my goodness, corporate America was a bunch of stolid white guys in gray suits trying to be serious, and now it's stolid white guys in gray suits trying to be funny.

I think comics have far more potential than a lot of people realize.

My feeling about my own work is, I could be writing 'The Aeneid' and they would still have to call it chick lit or mommy lit or menopausal old hag lit.

Regarding one's career: always be prepared, no short cuts - hard work is the only alternative that really works.

The fruits of the tree of Knowledge are various; he must be strong indeed who can digest all of them.

I think the first time I was on The David Letterman Show, he didn't quite know what to expect. I think people generally are just a little afraid.

Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves.