“Poetry is priceless.... a way of keeping yourself feeling rich and civilized even when you're quite poor. ”

“If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor. You can keep on with your books and your ideas. You just got to say to yourself, "I'm a free man in here" - he tapped his forehead - "and you're all right.”

“Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.”

“I had come to see that the great tragedy in the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor but that rich Christians do not know the poor...I truly believe that when the rich meet the poor, riches will have no meaning. And when the rich meet the poor, we will see poverty come to an end.”

“If a fish feels sad when a fisherman’s boat is sinking, and that fish owns a priceless treasure: The compassion! Have compassion, even for your enemies!”

“Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.”