The truth brings the past into the present and prepares us for the future. That's what truth does

By no amount of agile exercising of a wistful imagination could my mother have been called lenient. Generous she was; indulgent never. Kind, yes, permissive, never. In her world, people she accepted paddled their own canoes, pulled their own weight, put their own shoulders to their own plows and pushed like hell.

It's wonderful that whenever Patsy Cline's name is mentioned, people's voices fall and they become right sentimental. And, rightly so.

My work is to be honest. My work is to try to think clearly, then have the courage to make sure that what I say is the truth.

Poetry gave me back my voice.

People trying to separate people rather than bring us together... please. You don't just see it in America. It's all over the world.

You forgive yourself for every failure because you are trying to do the right thing. God knows that and you know it. Nobody else may know it.