A certain amount of housekeeping also goes on in my poems. I wash doorknobs, do dishes, mop floors, patch carpets, cook.

You may do this, I tell you, it is permitted. Begin again the story of your life.

The heat of autumn is different from the heat of summer. One ripens apples, the other turns them to cider.

Zen pretty much comes down to three things -- everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.

How fragile we are, between the few good moments.

Habit, laziness, and fear conspire to keep us comfortably within the familiar.

How silently the heart pivots on its hinge.

Existence itself is nothing if not an amazement. Good poems restore amazement.

Something looks back from the trees, and knows me for who I am.

In sorrow, pretend to be fearless. In happiness, tremble.

You must try, the voice said, to become colder. I understood at once. It's like the bodies of gods: cast in bronze, braced in stone. Only something heartless could bear the full weight.

I have two great duties in each day: firstly, to identify why I woke up and secondly to be convinced of why I must retire for the day

God's will is your deepest desires.

A man can get discouraged many times but he is not a failure until he begins to blame somebody else and stops trying.

One ought to be ashamed to make use of the wonders of science embodied in a radio set, the while appreciating them as little as a cow appreciates the botanic marvels in the plants she munches.

It's sick that I experienced a once in a lifetime love - still as strong as the day it happened - & have been punished every single day since.

As a child, I never wanted my parents to be unhappy, which meant that I would always contemplate what would make them happy.

Trust me, true?" Butch barked a laugh. "Last time you said that i ended up with a vampire cocktail, remember?

When your father directed your mother in 'Orpheus Descending,' the kid's going to be a theater nerd.

Being a geek just means that you're passionate about something.

And so, surpassing my own records for dangerous, reckless behavior, I ripped off Sonya's bracelet. "I'm Rose Hathaway.