In a poem the excitement has to maintain itself. I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric is governed by gravity.

At all events there is in Brooklyn something that makes me feel at home.

One writes because one has a burning desire to objectify what it is indispensable to one's happiness to express ...

A writer is unfair to himself when he is unable to be hard on himself.

Egotism is usually subversive of sagacity.

I never 'plan' a stanza. Words cluster like chromosomes, determining the procedure.

The passion for setting people right is in itself an afflictive disease.

Life is energy, and energy is creativity. And even when individuals pass on, the energy is retained in the work of art, locked in it and awaiting release if only someone will take the time and the care to unlock it.

We Call Them the Brave who likely were reluctant to be brave.

Beauty is everlasting And dust is for a time.

Originality is... a by-product of sincerity.

It is in general true that in order to create works of art one has to have leisure. On the other hand I think that one needs to experience resistance in a practical sense, and even that which is poignant to bring out what makes easy reading for others. Too much deprivation of course, means death.

Music is the strongest form of magic.

If you want to find out who your real friends are, sink the ship. The first ones to jump aren't your friends.

I never said to be like me, I say be yourself and make a difference.

Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised.

I've always believed that a person is smart. It's people that are stupid.

We live in a society of victimization, where people are much more comfortable being victimized than actually standing up for themselves.

Most of the world's problems could be avoided if people just said what they fucking meant.

Marilyn Monroe wasn't even her real name, Charles Manson isn't his real name, and now, I'm taking that to be my real name. But what's real? You can't find the truth, you just pick the lie you like the best.

I have mood poisoning. Must be something I hate.

The death of one is a tragedy, but death of a million is just a statistic.

When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed.

In a society where you are taught to love everything, what value does that place on love?

What doesn't kill you is gonna leave a scar.

All the drugs in the world won't save us from ourselves.

Relationships never break cleanly. Like a valuable vase, they are smashed and then glued back together, smashed and glued, smashed and glued until the pieces just don't fit together anymore.

Find what you are afraid of, face it, and then you won't be afraid of it anymore.

We don't like to kill our unborn; we need them to grow up and fight our wars.

When someone was willing to drown with me, I really didn't want to drown anymore.

You get depressed because you know that you're not what you should be.

People tend to associate anyone who looks and behaves differently with illegal or immoral activity.

I remember growing up, saying you’re an artist it sounds pretentious but now it’s one of the only dignified things that you can call yourself.

Part of me is afraid to get close to people because I'm afraid that they're going to leave.

When you're taught to love everyone, to love your enemies, then what value does that place on love?

Not only are love and hate such closely related emotions, but it's a lot easier to hate someone you've cared about than someone you never have.

I walked away exhilarated by my success, because there's nothing like making a difference in someone's life, even if that difference is a lifetime of nightmares and a fortune in therapy bills.

Is adult amusement killing our children, or is killing our children amusing adults?

My pain's not ashamed to repeat itself

The crack inside your fucking heart is me.

In the end we're all Springer guests, really, we just haven't been on the show.

I've seen my own death in dreams like this and it's helped me appreciate life more. I've also seen my own life in dreams and it's helped me appreciate death more.

But what's real? You can't find the truth. You just pick the lie you like best. As long as you know that everything's a lie, you can't hurt yourself.

I fall in love with everything I also hate everything. It’s very hard to be a misanthrope and a romantic.

The aspiration to save the world is a morbid phenomenon of today's youth.

Hopefully, I'll be remembered as the person who brought an end to Christianity.

That becomes the revolution, to be idealistic enough that you think you can change the world, and what you find is you can't change anything but yourself.

Paintings are seldom guilty and often framed for crimes they did not commit. Some cover holes-holes in walls, holes in lives. Some make holes-in wallets, holes in hearts...in negative space.

If you intend to create something that people will observe and listen to, you've got to listen to them first.

A lot of people don't want to make their own decisions. They're too scared. It's much easier to be told what to do.