The commonest ivory tower is that of the average man, the state of passivity towards experience.

It is a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.

Organic growth is a cyclical process; it is just as true to say that the oak is a potential acorn as it is to say the acorn is a potential oak. But the process of writing a poem, of making any art object, is not cyclical but a motion in one direction toward a definite end.

The poet marries the language, and out of this marriage the poem is born.

No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number fondly believe their wish has been granted.

A god who is both self-sufficient and content to remain so could not interest us enough to raise the question of his existence.

We are all here on earth to help others.