Poetry is what is gained in translation.

In general, with things unpleasant, the rule is: The sooner you hit bottom, the faster you surface.

The real history of consciousness starts with one's first lie.

For the poet the credo or doctrine is not the point of arrival but is, on the contrary, the point of departure for the metaphysical journey.

I don't want to dive into that mud slide, which is what I consider the literary process.

Were we to choose our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth. I believe ... that for someone who has read a lot of Dickens to shoot his like in the name of an idea is harder than for someone who has read no Dickens.

It would be enough for me to have the system of a jury of twelve versus the system of one judge as a basis for preferring the U.S. to the Soviet Union. I would prefer the country you can leave to the country you cannot.