What's a word, a talisman, to hold against the world?

Without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not restricted to the arts. Every scientist I have met who has been a success has had to imagine.

It makes me furious to hear haters of all skin colors - especially Christian, Jewish, and Muslim fundamentalists - deride other people because of their different beliefs and lifestyles.

If I begin writing a poem that means I'm intrigued in some way by whatever it's about and that if I'm not trying to find something new and pushing the envelope in the poem I can't expect my reader to be particularly excited about it either.

It's the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about being poet laureate.

We should always do something that makes us feel like a child again. Keep learning, no matter what it is.

Equality and self-determination should never be divided in the name of religious or ideological fervor.