The artist is the opposite of the politically minded individual, the opposite of the reformer, the opposite of the idealist. The artist does not tinker with the universe, he recreates it out of his own experience and understanding of life.

If the poet can no longer speak for society, but only for himself, then we are at the last ditch.

It is no accident that propels people like us to Paris.

I had learned to harness ignorance with presumption. I was ready to become an unacknowledged watercolorist.

Life's wildest moment---she kneels on the sidewalk. Everything else she does is lies, lies.

Chaos is the score upon which reality is written.

It isn't the oceans which cut us off from the world - it's the American way of looking at things.