Whatever mourns when many leave these shores: Whatever shares The eternal reciprocity of tears.

Ambition may be defined as the willingness to receive any number of hits on the nose.

All theological lore is becoming distasteful to me.

The old Lie:Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

All a poet can do today is warn.

Above all I am not concerned with Poetry. My subject is War, and the pity of War. The Poetry is in the pity.

No-man's land under snow is like the face of the moon: chaotic, crater ridden, uninhabitable, awful, the abode of madness.

And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall, By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

I, too, saw God through mud - The mud that cracked on cheeks when wretches smiled. War brought more glory to their eyes than blood, And gave their laughs more glee than shakes a child.

All I ask is to be held above the barren wastes of want.

In my heart's most secret place, I pity them as angels do.

What we are is going to be visible in our art, no matter how secular (on the surface) the subject may be.

Can you, at a minimum, objectively step back—throw out the stereotypes, ditch the conformity, set aside the religion—and ask yourself, why? Why Jesus?

To take the world into one's arms and act towards it in a soul-filled and soul-strengthening manner is a powerful act of wildish spirit.

Find then follow the path that enables you to create the life you want to live.

Each reader needs to bring his or her own mind and heart to the text.

I always trust the microcosm over the macrocosm.

I'm seeing more and more books by celebrity authors, and I'm not happy to see them. I'd rather see publishing budgets devoted to genuine talents.

When your past calls, don't answer. It has nothing new to say.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”