The free, creative, loving people who shine so brightly in my memory of studios and coffee shops have become models for a huge section of the population. If they in turn can just stay alive in the face of power and terror, they may become the decisive section.

Art is the reasoned derangement of the senses.

Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense: the creative act.

You don't become a saint until you lead a good life whether in Tibet or Italy or America.

Maturity is having the ability to escape categorization.

The mature man lives quietly, does good privately, takes responsibility for his actions, treats others with friendliness and courtesy, finds mischief boring and avoids it. Without the hidden conspiracy of goodwill, society would not endure an hour.

As Aristotle said, you have to be an aristocrat or a reactionary to write a good proletarian poem.