I wrote some of the worst poetry west from the Mississippi River, but I wrote. And I finally sometimes got it right.

We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

My hope is that we develop enough courage to develop courage. To try to have, try to learn to treat each other fairly, with generosity and kindness.

You can never be great at anything unless you love it.

Easy reading is damn hard writing. But if it's right, it's easy. It's the other way round, too. If it's slovenly written, then it's hard to read. It doesn't give the reader what the careful writer can give the reader.

I am convinced that most people do not grow up ... our real selves, the children inside, are still innocent and shy as magnolias.

Without defeats, how do you really know who the hell you are? If you never had to stand up to something - to get up, to be knocked down, and to get up again - life can walk over you wearing football cleats. But each time you do get up, you're bigger, taller, finer, more beautiful, more kind, more understanding, more loving. Each time you get up, you're more inclusive. More people can stand under your umbrella.