Sex cannot be contained within a definition of physical pleasure, it cannot be understood as merely itself for it has stood for too long as a profound connection between human beings.

we expect definitions to tell us not only what is, but what to do about it; to show us how the world fits together and how its different parts connect and work. ... A label is the first step toward action.

We put up with a lot to be saved from chaos. We always have.

Mistrust must be acted on, and effective action by the ruled is not solitary and singular, but joint and repeated.

We are in a double bind. We are expected to feel inferior not only as women, but because we are old.

I have a problem about being nearly sixty: I keep waking up in the morning and thinking I'm thirty-one.

Though we do not have many poets, we certainly have more than we deserve, for we deserve none at all. It is ourselves that we are hurting by our stupidity and ignorance of poetry.