Nothing succeeds like success. Get a little success, and then just get a little more.

Nothing will work unless you do.

Find a beautiful piece of art. If you fall in love with Van Gogh or Matisse or John Oliver Killens, or if you fall love with the music of Coltrane, the music of Aretha Franklin, or the music of Chopin - find some beautiful art and admire it, and realize that that was created by human beings just like you, no more human, no less.

If I'm the people's poet, then I ought to be in people's hands - and, I hope, in their heart.

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.

The more you know of your history, the more liberated you are.