I used to think all poets were Byronic Mad, bad and dangerous to know. And then I met a few. See Lamb 486:25.

Write to amuse? What an appalling suggestion! I write to make people anxious and miserable and to worsen their indigestion.

Some socks are loners They can't live in pairs.

Bloody Christmas, here again, let us raise a loving cup, peace on earth, goodwill to men, and make them do the washing up.

When a poem doesn't work, the first question to ask yourself is, 'Am I telling the truth?'

I have a theory that if you've got the kind of parents who want to send you to boarding school, you're probably better off at boarding school.

The reason modern poetry is difficult is so that the poet's wife cannot understand it.

Bloody men are like bloody buses - you wait for about a year and as soon as one approaches your stop two or three others appear.

I like buying clothes, especially as I get a tax-deductible allowance.

The interesting thing is that you don't often meet a poet who doesn't have a sense of humour, and some of them do keep it out of their poems because they're afraid of being seen as light versifiers.

I was single for a long time and felt very much alone in the world, and talk of family values upset me very much at that phase in my life, because I used to think: 'What about people like me?

Progress means taking risks for you can't steal home and keep your foot on third base.

Poetry is a puppet-show, where riders of skyrockets and divers of sea fathoms gossip about the sixth sense and the fourth dimension.

The really faithful lover of learning holds fast to the Good Way till death.

The important thing is the educational experience itself — how to survive it.

Let's not forget that in India the symbol of strength is a woman; the goddess Shakti.

There's definitely a psychology to making you feel important and like you're part of the game. It's a very special quality, especially with a first-time director.

It is not important at all that we were all once an ape! The important thing is that how very much we evolved and how far we got away from the apes!

The fuses had been lit and could not be extinguished. All that remained was to observe the speed of the spark, and the size of the explosions.

Riches should be admitted into our houses, but not into our hearts; we may take them into our possession, but not into our affections.

Sometimes you need to let people feel important by disliking you. It's their little happiness.