“We no longer believe because it is absurd: it is absurd because we must believe.”

“The fantastic breaks the crust of appearance something grabs us by the shoulders to throw us outside ourselves. I have always known that the big surprises await us where we have learned to be surp...”

“In quoting others, we cite ourselves.”

“Wordplay hides a key to reality that the dictionary tries in vain to lock inside every free word.”

“I am talking about the responsibility of the poet, who is irresponsible by definition, an anarchist enamored of a solar order and never of the new order or whatever slogan makes five or six hundred...”

“All profound distraction opens certain doors. You have to allow yourself to be distracted when you are unable to concentrate.”

“Im not a woman you bring home to Mother, pick out china patterns with, or Mary forefend, breed. Ive seen a chunk of the universe, true, but theres still so much more to see. I doubt Ill ever cure t...”

“My hope, my heaven, my trust must be,My gentle guide, in following thee.”

“Amory took to writing poetry on spring afternoons, in the gardens of the big estates near Princeton, while swans made effective atmosphere in the artificial pools, and slow clouds sailed harmonious...”

“Protesters are still on the fringes like satellites, revolving around the system. But prophets and poets lead us into a new world, beyond simply yelling at the old one.”

“Why do I write? Out of fear. Out of fear that the memory of the people I write about might go lost. Out of fear that the memory of myself might get lost. Or even just to be shielded by a story, to ...”

“They say that it is always poets that die in wars, and I never got over a sense of being in the trenches.”