If sometimes our great artists have been the most critical of our society, it is because their sensitivity and their concern for justice, which must motivate any true artist, makes him aware that our nation falls short of its highest potential. I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.

Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet.

American history is not something dead and over. It is always alive,always growing, always unfinished.

Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

The rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.

History will never accept difficulties as an excuse.