“Hope is possible, when you decide to believe that what you are hoping for is possible.”

“Is it, then, your opinionWomen are putty in your hands?Is this the face to launch uponA thousand one night stands?First, please, would you be so kindAs to define your contributionTo modern verse, the Western mindAnd human institutions?Where, where is the long, flowing hair,The velvet suit, the broad bow tie;Where is the other-worldly air,Where the abstracted eye?Describe the influence on your verseOf Oscar Mudwarp’s mighty line,The theories of Susan SchmerschOr the spondee’s decline.You’ve labored to present us withThis mouse-sized volume; shall this equalThe epic glories of Joe Smith?He’s just brought out a sequel.Where are the beard, the bongo drums,Tattered T-shirt and grubby sandals,As who, released from Iowa, comesTo tell of wondrous scandals?Have you subversive, out of date,Or controversial ideas?And can you really pull your weightAmong such minds as these?Ah, what avails the tenure race,Ah, what the Ph.D.,When all departments have a placeFor nincompoops like thee?”

“I hope you never understand what it is to know that all you believed is wrong--sorely wrong.”

“Do not fear the story you do not yet know or understand. Come to the Author of your life and the Word spoken for you, so that a new story can be written.” Divine Possibilities”

“I found your nose... It was in my business again.. ( :”

“Be careful what you believe - it is who you are.”

“When we got to the part where we had to improvise an argument in a poetic language, I got cold feet. "I can't do this," I said. "I don't know what to say.""Say anything," he said. "You can't make a mistake when you improvise.""What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?""You can't," he said. "It's like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another."In this simple exchange, Sam taught me the secret of improvisation, one that I have accessed my whole life.”