Talent--that is to say, the ability to see the world in a unique way--matures and grows in isolation.

Art cannot progress by sticking to what is already familiar.

In the end, time is the best ally of poets. It clarifies their works and makes them accessible to an ever widening circle of readers.

The solitude of the poet is the uniqueness of his experience, and the particulaity of his sensitivity and imagination.

The demand that poetry be immediately understandable to everyone is truly absurd.

The spirit of the age is not synonymous with what the public likes.

The public, regardless of its social origin, likes, above all, that which is easily accessible.

The age of sages is past; the age of specialists has come.

Solitude is an essential element of poetry.

Environment grinds us, forces us to adjust, and--consciously or not--kills our most precious possession: that something which enables us to speak with ourselves and with God.

Tradition remains alive only when we struggle with it.

If you will have to dwell on anything, think of noble pure thoughts.

In case you haven't noticed, we're already involved, Finch. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm broken too.

If you are feeling constrained by a group that you belong to, ask yourself, “How can I participate in this community and still be who I am?

Today's youth are told to get rich or die trying and they really shouldn't take that attitude forward with them.

I'm sure we, the American people, are the butt of jokes by those in power.

Our future lies to the east and south, in Asia and Africa.

I remember as a child I just would copy everyone else's handwriting, and now I have sort of a version of my sister's handwriting. And I feel like - sometimes I feel that way for my voice.

The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.

It's never the changes we want that change everything.

Maturity is highly overrated.