"Alchemy is the art of far and near, and I think poetry is alchemy in that way. It's delightful to distort size, to see something that's tiny as though it were vast."

"What actually makes poetry poetry is of course impossible to define. We recognize it when we hear it, when we see it, but we can't define it."

"I love to compare different time frames. Poetry can evoke the time of the subject. By a very careful choice of words you can evoke an era, completely throw the poem into a different time scale."

"Poetry, almost by definition, calls attention to its language and form."

"If we value what we've inherited for free - from other women - surely it's right morally and ethically for us to wake up and say, 'I'm a feminist. '"

"The paradox of freedom is that every challenge is an invitation to grow stronger."

"Justice is the harmonious balance between individual liberty and collective good. Remember this in moments of decisive trial — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The spread of freedom is the best security for the free."