I love painting and music, of course. I dont know nearly as much about them as I know about poetry. Ive certainly been influenced by fiction. I was overwhelmed by War and Peace when I read it, and I didnt read it until I was in my late 20s. – Kenneth Koch
I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a kind of mean that enables the most dubious practitioners to claim they are poets because they think, If the kind of thing Ginsberg does is poetry, I can do that. – James Dickey
Errors to be dangerous must have a great deal of truth mingled with them. It is only from this alliance that they can ever obtain an extensive circulation. – Sydney Smith
I never doubted my ability, but when you hear all your life youre inferior, it makes you wonder if the other guys have something youve never seen before. If they do, Im still looking for it. – Hank Aaron
Because when we think about the real facts: 44 million Americans without health insurance, millions without jobs, a 50-year high on mortgage foreclosures, an historic high the third year in a row on personal bankruptcies. – Chaka Fattah
