“When we celebrate American independence, we are celebrating the best sense of an idea, a process in process.”

“When someone says, 'I trusted you,' the phrase is loaded with all the actions that came from that trust: the person comes almost to embody trust, just as anyone who's always hustling can only be called a hustler.”

“When we celebrate American independence, we are celebrating the best sense of an idea, a process in process.”

“You will be hard pressed to read another book that understands you as well as 'Leaves of Grass' does. It was made for you in the way that the constellations were made for you. It understands and makes space for your doubts, your love, the guilt and passions of your life and waits for you.”

“You don't teach a person how to write as much as you teach that person how to survive the writing process.”