"Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience."

"If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague answer, such as, 'Poetry is the music of words,' or 'Poetry is the linguistic correction of disorder.'"

"That's a wonderful change that's taken place, and so most poetry today is published, if not directly by the person, certainly by the enterprise of the poet himself, working with his friends."

"The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all that he has learned about poetry, is only a partial assurance."

"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

"A man should never put on his best trousers when he goes out to battle for freedom and truth."

"They have called Operation Iraqi Freedom a war of choice that isn't part of the real war on terror. Someone should tell that to al Qaeda."

"I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land."