I believe we should all know each other, we human carriers of so many pleasurable differences. To not know is to doubt, to shrink from, sidestep or destroy.

I tell poets that when a line just floats into your head, don't pay attention 'cause it probably has floated into somebody else's head.

Be yourself. Don't imitate other poets. You are as important as they are.

I don't like the idea of the black race being diluted out of existence. I like the idea of all of us being here.

The poetry is myself.

We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.

One reason cats are happier than people is that they have no newspapers.