When Mr Ackroyd says that in the 18th century, stranglers bit off the noses of their victims, I feel that he probably knows what he is talking about. I just wish he hadn't told me.

The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen for the reverberation.

Imitation, if it is not forgery, is a fine thing. It stems from a generous impulse, and a realistic sense of what can and cannot be done.

The lullaby is the spell whereby the mother attempts to transform herself back from an ogre to a saint.

Babies are not brought by storks and poets are not produced by workshops.

Hearing that the same men who brought us 'South Park' were mounting a musical to be called 'The Book of Mormon,' we were tempted to turn away, as from an inevitable massacre.

One does not become a guru by accident.

Windbags can be right. Aphorists can be wrong. It is a tough world.

In rap, as in most popular lyrics, a very low standard is set for rhyme; but this was not always the case with popular music.

My feeling is that poetry will wither on the vine if you don't regularly come back to the simplest fundamentals of the poem: rhythm, rhyme, simple subjects - love, death, war.

English poetry begins whenever we decide to say the modern English language begins, and it extends as far as we decide to say that the English language extends.

Your distinction shouldn't be measured by your duration but rather, your donation.

I don't like to leave anything unfinished on my desk before I travel.

I am for . . . each individual doing just as he chooses in all matters which concern nobody else.

Ambition and thirst for power have a part but greed and greed alone is the reason for a man wanting to swell his ward.

I'd have a longer attention span if there weren't so many shiny things.

No man's faith, no man's religion, no religion in all the world can ever rise above the truth.

Do not sit idle, for indeed death is seeking you

And whatever our faith - whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country.

desserts are the most crucial part of any meal.

Empathy is at the core of family stability and love. I've never had a couple come to me and say, I want a divorce; my partner understands me.