When the artist is truly the servant of the work, the work is better than the artist; Shakespeare knew how to listen to his work, and so he often wrote better than he could write; Bach composed more deeply, more truly than he knew, Rembrandt's brush put more of the human spirit on canvas than Rembrandt could comprehend. When the work takes over, then the artist is enabled to get out of the way, not to interfere. When the work takes over, then the artist listens.

Inspiration more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of an artist is to listen to the work.

anything that stretches the mind is a help to the potential author.

We are suspicious of grace. We are afraid of the very lavishness of the gift.

To share poetry is one of the most intimate acts of friendship possible.

An artist is someone who cannot rest, who can never rest as long as there is one suffering creature in the world.

But where, after we have made the great decision to leave the security of childhood and move on into the vastness of maturity, does anybody ever feel completely at home?