“Still, no one finally knows what a poet is supposed either to be or to do. Especially in this country, one takes on the job—because all that one does in America is considered a "job"—with no clear sense as to what is required or where one will ultimately be led. In that respect, it is as particular an instance of a "calling" as one might point to. For years I've kept in mind, "Many are called but few are chosen." Even so "called," there were no assurances that one would be answered.”

“What is the point in calling anything God if it does not also hold sway in every part of one's life--especially one's politics?”

“One does what one is; one becomes what one does.”

“I know this body is impatient.I know I constitute only a meager voice and mind.Yet I loved, I love.I want no sentimentality.I want no more than home.”

“The awful thing, as a kid reading, was that you came to the end of the story, and that was it. I mean, it would be heartbreaking that there was no more of it.”

“When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called a Religion.”

“You know what you are? You're God's answer to Job, ... He would have pointed to you and said, "Y'know, I do a lot of terrible things, but I can still make one of these.”