If only the sun-drenched celebrities are being noticed and worshiped, then our children are going to have a tough time seeing the value in the shadows, where the thinkers, probers and scientists are keeping society together.

I always loved science. And in fact, I got a science award in high school. I mean, I loved science, but I think I loved literature more.

If you can't be free, be a mystery.

The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and I've seen ecstasy or something

The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and I think it comes from that shadow string, the double strings.

I didn't know writers could be real live people, because I never knew any writers.

There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.