“Gather up In the arms of your love—Those who expect No love from above.”

Yet the ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond-jade, Are only silly puppet gods That people themselves Have made.

O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.

Books -where if people suffered, they suffered in beautiful language, not in monosyllables.

I look at my own body With eyes no longer blind- And I see that my own hands can make The world that’s in my mind.

Looks like what drives me crazy Don’t have no effect on you– But I’m gonna keep on at it Till it drives you crazy, too.

LIBERTY! FREEDOM! DEMOCRACY! True anyhow no matter how many Liars use those words.

Go home and write / a page tonight. / And let that page come out of you – / Then, it will be true.

To create a market for your writing you have to be consistent, professional, a continuing writer – not just a one-article or a one-story or a one-book man.

Reach Up Your Hand… and take a star.

Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.

Both of them were very good and kind – the one who went to church and the one who didn’t. And no doubt from them I learned to like both Christians and sinners equally well.

We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.

Let America be America, where equality is in the air we breathe.

The first of the month falls every month, too, North or South. And them white folks who sends bills never forgets to send them-the phone bill, the furniture bill, the water bill, the gas bill, insurance, house rent.

Most musicians remain poor. But the music that they make, even if it does not bring them millions, gives millions of people happiness.

The rhythm of life is a jazz rhythm

What gets scary is when your self-worth is tied up in what strangers think of you.

I’d like to take care of someone but at the same time I like girls who are independent.

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of who you are.

We need others. We need others to love and we need to be loved by them. There is no doubt that without it, we too like the infant left alone, would cease to grow, cease to develop, choose madness, and even death.

Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.

Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.

I write poems, I meditate. I don’t live up to people’s expectations. I don’t do the conventional cool things – I know I am the coolest person.

The game is supposed to be fun. If you had a bad day, don’t worry. You can’t expect to get a hit every game.