Our contemporary Tories prefer the term 'ordered liberty' to 'freedom'. The word 'freedom' scares them; it has too much of a paleolithic ring to it.

Poetry -- even bad poetry -- may be our final hope.

I intend to be good for the rest of my natural life -- if I live that long.

The most striking thing about the rich is the gracious democracy of their manners -- and the crude vulgarity of their way of life.

There comes a point, in literary objectivity, when the author's self- effacement is hard to distinguish from moral cowardice.

Only the half-mad are wholly alive.

Come with me, the river said, close your eyes and quiet your limbs and float with me into the wonder and mystery of the canyons, see the unknown and the little known, look upon the stone gods face to face, see Medusa, drink my waters, hear my song, feel my power, come along and drift with me toward the distant, ultimate and legendary sea.