The first question at that time in poetry was simply the question of honesty, of sincerity.

The self is no mystery, the mystery is / That there is something for us to stand on

Those who are not very concerned with art want poems or pictures to record for them something they already know - as one might want a picture of a place he loves.

Clarity, clarity, surely clarity is the most beautiful thing in the world, A limited, limiting clarity I have not and never did have any motive of poetry But to achieve clarity.

The meaning of a poem is in the cadences and the shape of the lines and the pulse of the thought which is given by those lines.

Things explain each other, not themselves.

It is necessary to study these words you have written, for the words have a longer history than you have and say more than you know.

There are situations which cannot honorably be met by art.

A pure mathematical series would be one in which each term is derived from the preceding term by a rule.

[It is not] the poet's business to use verse as an advanced form of rhetoric, nor to give to political statements the aura of eternal truth.

If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.

In the Bible, the race of life is never considered from the viewpoint of speed... We are to run it with patience.

I feel that good food should be a right and not a privilege, and it needs to be without pesticides and herbicides. And everybody deserves this food. And that's not elitist.

Many men of science and poets have in their own manner, by various ways and means, and aided by others, sought unceasingly to create a more tolerable world for everyone.

The most important appointment Pope Francis has made is the appointment of the Australian cardinal, George Pell, as the Vatican's financial overseer.

I'm just really happy to be happy for the first time since I was about 20.

What an honor it was to step into the shoes of Nelson Mandela and portray a man who defied odds, broke down barriers, and championed human rights before the eyes of the world.

There's only one true king of rock 'n' roll. His name is Chuck Berry.

The more of you I see, the more I'm glad I'm me