When I left Ohio when I was 17 and ended up in New York and realised that not all films had the giant crab monsters in them, it really opened up a lot of things for me.

A lot of poets too live on the margins of social acceptance, they certainly aren't in it for the money. William Blake - only his first book was legitimately published.

I didn't get my degree at NYU; I got it later, they gave me an honourary one.

I think of poets as outlaw visionaries in a way.

When I get depressed, or anything, I go 'think of all the music I haven't even heard yet!' So, it's the one thing. Imagine the world without music. Man, just hand me a gun, will you?

If anyone tells you there is only one way, their way, get as far away from them as possible, both physically and philosophically.

It's hard to get lost if you don't know where you're going.

The beauty of life is in small details, not in big events.

Each one of us is a set of shifting molecules, spinning in ecstasy.

The counterculture is always repackaged and made into a product. It's part of America.

I prefer to be subcultural rather than mass-cultural. I'm not interested in hitting the vein of the mainstream.

[T]he kingdom of God... is to be a political institution that shall hold sway over all the earth; to which all other governments will be subordinate and by which they will be dominated.

There is no length that is too great to go to in order to protect your child.

Why does the thin grey strand Floating up from the forgotten Cigarette between my fingers, Why does it trouble me?

She has seen the mystery hid Under Egypt's pyramid: By those eyelids pale and close Now she knows what Rhamses knows.

Religion's crucial role in the lives of many people... is rejected out of hand by the political community, especially the press.

I love walking around and grabbing coffee and sitting in a park and people watching… I love Greenwich Village.

Who is Jesus? The answer to that question is a matter of eternal life and eternal death.

I don't believe that human beings can achieve ultimate enlightenment, because humans have flaws.

My routine is all about preparation.

Hang him, swaggering rascal!