When I talk of hearing a poet's voice speaking, I always think of it as in the presence of the man.

I'm very gregarious, but I love being in the hills on my own.

However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry in him or her, to offer them help is like offering a propeller to a bird.

But I hang on to books. I love them. I even think they're very nice decor in a room - far better than paintings... That's not quite true!

When I go fishing I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of me.

I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of mimicry.

I used to fish the Border rivers, but nowadays you have to queue up for a shot and I can't stand that.

When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous.

And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so.

There are some friends you don't meet for twenty years and when you meet them again it's as if no twenty years has happened - you're lucky when that happens. I feel the same about books.

It's like breathing in and out to me. It's like having a conversation with someone who isn't there. Because it has to be addressed to somebody - not a particular person, or very rarely.

We all want to know and be known. That's why doing good is so powerful when the focus is first and foremost the people and not the project.

It's about people who still are unaware. Therefore they strive to live by all means: love like no one before them loved, believe like no one ever believed, desire like no one else ever desired...

Heaven set couples for babies' birth.

What had seemed easy in imagination was rather hard in reality.

The woman in you is the worry in me.

You're always being cast for what you've been in last.

My very first professional writing credit was on a movie called The Dunwich Horror, and Roger Corman was the executive producer.

As soon as you start talking about Scouting, there's an immediate connection and brotherhood.

To say that we're doomed is just an obvious remark.

I have to try different things to see what works best. Other people get impatient with that.