I know some people might think it odd - unworthy even - for me to have written a cookbook, but I make no apologies. The U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins thought I had demeaned myself by writing poetry for Hallmark Cards, but I am the people's poet so I write for the people.

Never, never let a person know you're frightened. And a group of them ... absolutely never. Fear brings out the worst in everybody.

I'm a feminist. I've been a female for a long time now. It'd be stupid not to be on my own side.

All riddles are blues, / And all blues are sad, / And I'm only mentioning / Some blues I've had.

It is sad but true that sometimes we need the tragedy to help us to see how human we are and how we are more alike than we are different.

Without courage you cannot practice any of the other virtues.

One isn't born with courage. One develops it by doing small courageous things-in the way that if one sets out to pick up a 100-pound bag of rice, one would be advised to start with a five-pound bag, then 10 pounds, then 20 pounds, and so forth, until one builds up enough muscle to lift the 100-pound bag. It's the same way with courage. You do small courageous things that require some mental and spiritual exertion.