Consciousness is the materia poetica that Shakespeare sculpts as Michelangelo sculpts marble. We feel the consciousness of Hamlet or Iago, and our own consciousness strangely expands.

I define influence simply as literary love, tempered by defense. The defenses vary from poet to poet. But the overwhelming presence of love is vital to understanding how great literature works.

The soul awakens in times of difficulty by divine grace.

I used to ride motorbikes and drive cars like everything was a racetrack it was ridiculous. It wasn't because I thought it was cool it was just because I loved living on the edge. But I've chilled.

The love expressed between women is particular and powerful because we have had to love in order to live; love has been our survival.

Democracy doesn't begin at the top; it begins at the bottom, when flesh-and-blood human beings fight to rekindle what Arlo Guthrie calls 'The Patriot's Dream.

Nothing is more irritating than not being invited to a party you wouldn''t be seen dead at

You are not merely the physical body that you identify with out of habit. Your essential state is a field of infinite possibilities.

Having contacts with Russian ambassador or with Russian representatives in this or that field does not mean interference in Americans' affairs - domestic affairs.

Portraying as human the people you hear about on the news doing bad things is dangerous. But it's also necessary and important.

My ability to keep cool in a crisis is based entirely on not knowing all the facts.

They can only set free men free... And there is no need of that: Free men set themselves free.