When in still air and still in summertime A leaf has had enough of this, it seems To make up its mind to go; fine as a sage Its drifting in detachment down the road.

Nothing in the universe can travel at the speed of light, they say, forgetful of the shadow's speed.

For a Jewish Puritan of the middle class, the novel is serious, the novel is work, the novel is conscientious application why, the novel is practically the retail business all over again.

A teacher is a person who never says anything once.

Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.

I would talk in iambic pentameter if it were easier.

I like all my children, even the squat and ugly ones.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely; and if you surrender your personal responsibility to a government which promises to take care of you, they will only take care of themselves.

When Robert Frost was alive, I was known as the other new England poet, which is to be barely known at all.

Robert Frost had always said you mustn't think of the last line first, or it's only a fake poem, not a real one. I'm inclined to agree.

[T]eaching has been for me an education (Lord knows what it has been for my students).

Dreams are hopeful because they exist as pure possibility. Unlike memories, which are fossils, long dead and buried deep.

A word to the unwise.Torch every book.Char every page.Burn every word to ash.Ideas are incombustible.And therein lies your real fear.

To achieve our goals we need perseverance

Artists are never appreciated at lunchtime, " Kelly mumbled as she stuffed her camera into her pocket.

Compassion is a lifetime business. You can't say something like, "I will have compassion on Monday, Thursdays and Fridays only. But for the rest, I will be cruel". That is hypocrisy.

The prevailin' weakness of most public men is to Slop Over!.... G. Washington never slopt over.

There's a difference between knowing what's on the page in a history book and actually feeling that page have curves and valleys.

We live in a description of reality.

The world has changed, and the United States needs to change with it.

Traveling around, it's difficult to follow much TV. Mainly I'm somebody who watches sports.