The Vietnamese people deeply love independence, freedom and peace. But in the face of United States aggression they have risen up, united as one man.

The rice grain suffers under the blow of the pestle. But admire its whiteness once the order is over. So it is with men and the world we live in. To be a man one must suffer the blows of misfortune.

To reap a return in ten years, plant trees. To reap a return in 100, cultivate the people.

I and others may be revolutionaries but we are disciples of Mahatma Gandhi, directly or indirectly, nothing more nothing less.

A poet must learn to wage war.

The object of my relationship with Vietnam has been to heal the wounds that exist, particularly among our veterans, and to move forward with a positive relationship,... Apparently some in the Vietnamese government don't want to do that and that's their decision.

You can kill ten of our men for every one we kill of yours. But even at those odds, you will lose and we will win.