I had no idea where these kids at a small private college in the San Fernando Valley were coming from, why they were coming to hear me, or what they needed to know.

For several centuries what has passed for song in literary circles was any text that looked like the lyrics for a commonplace melodic setting.

I've always had a strong feeling for the Statue of Liberty, because it became the statue of my personal liberty.

The ancient Greek "oral poets" all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the muse to help them remember.

I am quite unsatisfied by the distinctions between the oral and literate.

I had no idea where these kids at a small private college in the San Fernando Valley were coming from, why they were coming to hear me, or what they needed to know.

I learned enough Hebrew to stagger through a meaningless ceremony that I scarcely remember.