If you want to communicate, use the telephone

You owe reality nothing and the truth about your feelings everything.

To write a poem you must have a streak of arrogance-- not in real life I hope. In real life try to be nice. It will save you a hell of a lot of trouble and give you more time to write.

A creative writing class may be one of the last places you can go where your life still matters.

Assuming you can write clear English sentences, give up all worry about communication. If you want to communicate, use the telephone.

An act of imagination is an act of self-acceptance.

Don't write love poems when you're in love. Write them when you're not in love.

Say nothing and just make music and you'll find plenty to say.

Don't write with a pen. Ink tends to give the impression the words shouldn't be changed.

A good creative-writing teacher can save a good writer a lot of time.

Think small.... If you can't think small, try philosophy or social criticism.

Don’t waste your time on people

Claiming that you have got the truth wrapped up does breed violence and intolerance.

I love portraying the totally indifferent person.

The next 10 years are either going to happen to us, or because of us.

I'm able to express myself better now. I have come to accept the real me. I have come to love the real me. I now celebrate the real me.

The earth is, like our own skin, fated to carry the scars of ancient wounds.

I loved her for so long. Our past trails behind us like a comet's tail, the future stretched out before us like the universe. Things happen. People get lost and love breaks.

What good am I? I can't have kids. I can't cook. I've been divorced three times. Who would want me?

Among idealists and visionaries, there is no shortage of good intent, but there's often a shortage of discipline.

Whenever you hold a fellow creature in distress, remember that he is a man.