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The only way round is through. I never dared be radical when young For fear it would make me conservative when old. Americans are like a rich father who wishes he knew how to give his son the hardships that made him rich. Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference. Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it. Belief is better than anything else, and it is best when rapt - above paying its respects to anybody's doubt whatsoever. I had a lover's quarrel with the world. There may be little or much beyond the grave, But the strong are saying nothing until they see. Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence. Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length. Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in. At bottom the world isn't a joke. We only joke about it to avoid an issue with someone, to let someone know that we know he's there with his questions; to disarm him by seeming to have heard and done justice to his side of the standing argument. Humour is the most engaging cowardice. With it myself I have been able to hold some of my enemy in play far out of gunshot. An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor. A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer. A successful lawsuit is the one worn by a policeman. In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on. You've got to love what's lovable, and hate what's hateable. It takes brains to see the difference. Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up. You've got to be brave and you've got to be bold. Brave enough to take your chance on your own discrimination - what's right and what's wrong, what's good and what's bad. You don't have to deserve your mother's love. You have to deserve your father's. He's more particular. Poetry should be common in experience but uncommon in books. A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a homesickness or alovesickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words. Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down. Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat. A Liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel. Don't be agnostic - be something. To be social is to be forgiving. The best things and best people rise out of their separateness; I'm against a homogenized society because I want the cream to rise. All thought is a feat of association; having what's in front of you bring up something in your mind that you almost didn't know you knew. By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be a boss and work 12 hours a day. No tears and the writer, no tears and the reader. Always fall in with what you're asked to accept.... My aim in life has always been to hold my own with whatever's going. Not against: with. To be social is to be forgiving. Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things. I always entertain great hopes. There's nothing I'm afraid of like scared people. The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work. The middle of the road is where the white line is, and that's the worst place to drive. You have freedom when you're easy in your harness. Education is hanging around until you've caught on. Americans are like a rich father who wishes he knew how to give his sons the hardships that made him rich. Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. Home is the place, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be a boss and work twelve hours a day. Never ask of money spent Where the spender thinks it went. Nobody was ever meant To remember or invent What he did with every cent. |