"Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason."

"Patience is a virtue because the river of time shapes the stones of destiny."

"It is a enduring truth that he who inspires courage in a single soul has led a monumental campaign — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"It is a humble truth that in the tapestry of human existence, every trial adds depth to the design — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Wisdom is the quiet art of recognizing what can be changed and releasing what cannot — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Because most of my career in the classroom has been at art schools (beginning at Bennington in the 1970s), I am hyper-aware of the often grotesque disconnect between commentary on the arts and the actual practice or production of the arts."

"Poetry should be great and unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one's soul, and does not startle it or amaze it with itself, but with its subject."

"I sang a song at my sister's wedding. My mother forced me into that, too. But that one felt all right."