There is simply no dignified way for a woman to live alone. Oh, she can get along financially perhaps (though not nearly as well as a man), but emotionally she is never left in peace. Her friends, her family, her fellow workers never let her forget that her husbandlessness, her childlessness - her selfishness, in short - is a reproach to the American way of life.

I never became a writer for the money. I am a poet first. Even getting published is a miracle for poets.

Pregnancy seemed like a tremendous abdication of control. Something growing inside you which would eventually usurp your life.

The soul is awakened through service.

Anger is really disappointed hope.

You see a lot of smart guys with dumb women, but you hardly ever see a smart woman with a dumb guy.

Whenever I go anywhere but Italy for a vacation, I always feel vaguely disappointed, as if I have made a mistake.