The poets did not win; the philosophers surrendered.

The Fundamental Principle that governs - or ought to govern -human affairs if we wish to avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, or pointless utopias, is negotiation.

I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early poetry, and bad poets publish it. Thankfully I gave up rather quickly.

With all of its defects, the global market makes war less likely, even between the USA and China.

The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in their turn speak of things. Without an eye to read them, a book contains signs that produce no concepts; therefore it is dumb.

The step between ecstatic vision and sinful frenzy is all too brief.

Once you reach your fifties, you have to stop being interested in the present and write only on Elizabethan poets.