The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream.

Every great work of art ... is a celebration, an act of insubordination against the betrayals, horrors and infidelities of life.

I see people who talk about America, and then undermine it by not paying attention to its soul, to its poetry. I see polarization, reductionism and superficiality.

Once we know of atrocities we cannot remain silent, and knowledge inevitably leads to an urge to protect the innocent.

That, of course, is what great works of imagination do for us: They make us a little restless, destabilize us, question our preconceived notions and formulas.

I no longer believe that we can keep silent. We never really do, mind you. In one way or another we articulate what has happened to us through the kind of people we become.

You need imagination in order to imagine a future that doesn't exist.

It is amazing how, when all possibilities seem to be taken away from you, the minutest opening can become a great freedom.

I eat my heart out alone.

I am suddenly left alone again on the sunny path, with a memory of the rain.

When I walked down the streets, I asked myself, are these my people?, is this my hometown, am I who I am?

It's impossible to be unhappy while wearing a poncho!

I don't say goodbye very easily, Anna. Not gracefully or prettily.Goodbye tears your heart out and leaves it a feast for carrion birds who happen by.

You don't want to be rude but you have to be careful - there are a lot of strange people out there.(Goldman attributes this quote to Cliff Robertson.)

Love is the best window of the mind through which you see the beauty of life.

The Devil is not afraid to sit on an altar.

If you pick up a ukulele, it will make you unbelievably happy.

I was lookin' high an' low for them Reds everywhere, I was lookin' in the sink an' underneath the chair. I looked way up my chimney hole, I even looked deep inside my toilet bowl.

I love that people want to know about poetry. It's one of the ways of keeping alive.

Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can.

Sports, politics, and religion are the three passions of the badly educated.