...in a time lacking in truth and certainty and filled with anguish and despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the world, through her work, a portion of its lost heart.

It is not possible, for a poet, writing in any language, to protect himself from the tragic elements in human life.... [ellipsis in source] Illness, old age, and death--subjects as ancient as humanity--these are the subjects that the poet must speak of very nearly from the first moment that he begins to speak.

Poetry is often generations in advance of the thought of its time.

I don't like quintessential certitude.

The Initial Mystery that attends any journey is: how did the traveler reach his starting point in the first place?

Hate does not present many choices; if hate is your solution, you are fairly certain to hate all phemonena with equal joy and intensity, without troubling to drag into prominence any one feature from the loathsome whole.

Innocence of heart and violence of feeling are necessary in any kind of superior achievement: The arts cannot exist without them.