"It is the unknown that excites the ardor of scholars, who, in the known alone, would shrivel up with boredom."

"Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake."

"Money is a kind of poetry."

"The imagination is man's power over nature."

"As for how criticism of Keats' poetry relates to criticism of my own work, I'll leave that for others to decide."

"A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment."

"Clarity, clarity, surely clarity is the most beautiful thing in the world, A limited, limiting clarity I have not and never did have any motive of poetry But to achieve clarity."

"I'm not saying that people have to listen to rock music. It's a great, cool thing and it can really be liberating for a lot of people but, hey, so can Charles Dickens so I'm not going to judge."