“I have tried to write ParadiseDo not moveLet the wind speakthat is paradise.Let the Gods forgive what Ihave madeLet those I love try to forgivewhat I have made.”

“M'amour, m'amourwhat do I love andwhere are you?That I lost my centerfighting the worldThe Dreams clashand are shattered-and that I tried to make a paradisoterrestre.I have tried to write ParadiseDo not moveLet the wind speakthat is paradiseLet the Gods forgive what Ihave madeLet those I love try to forgivewhat I have made.”

“If anybody ever shuts you in Indiana...and you don't at least write some unconstrained something or other, I give up hope for your salvation.”

“Come, let us pity those who are better off than we are.Come, my friend, and remember that the rich have butlers and no friends,And we have friends and no butlers.(excerpt from 'The Garrett')”

“ The Lake IsleO God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves,Give me in due time, I beseech you, a little tobacco-shop,With the little bright boxespiled up neatly upon the shelvesAnd the loose fragrant cavendishand the shag,And the bright Virginialoose under the bright glass cases,And a pair of scales not too greasy,And the whores dropping in for a word or two in passing,For a flip word, and to tidy their hair a bit.O God, O Venus, O Mercury, patron of thieves,Lend me a little tobacco-shop,or install me in any professionSave this damn’d profession of writing,where one needs one’s brains all the time.”

“No one knows, at sight a masterpiece.And give up verse, my boy,There's nothing in it.Likewise a friend of Bloughram's once advised me:Don't kick against the pricks,Accept opinion. The Nineties tried your gameAnd died, there's nothing in it.”

“It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.”