Poetry Is A Man Arguing

The First Book That Really Knocked Me Out Was The 'brothers Karamazov.' I Read It When I Was A Senior In High School.

A Movement Got Started For Common Schools, And By The End Of The 19th Century, 91 Percent Of Americans Could Read And Write.

In The Beginning Of The 19th Century, Maybe Forty Percent Of Women And Fifty Percent Of Men Could Produce A Signature, Which Meant That They'd Had At Least Three Years Of Education Because It Was In Third Grade That People Started Penmanship In The 19th Century. And Of Course Black People Could Get Killed If They Got Caught Teaching Themselves To Read In Some Parts Of The Country.

Reading Is A Gymnasium For The Imagination Where People Can Work Out, Get Ready For The Shocks Of Existence. [...] For Me, The Intimate Teachers Have Not Only Taught Me How To Make Things, They Have Represented Some Qualities Of Mind And Mindfulness That I Would Like To Have.

Sometimes You Have To Be Less Ashamed About Writing A Bad Poem Than You Would Be About Being Silent.