He saw that I was shy, and at the time I was still scared of feeling with another person, so he put his arm around me and pulled me and put my head o… - Allen Ginsberg

So he said, 'What would you like to do? What is your desire really?' I said, 'Doctor, I don't think you're going to find this very healthy and clear, but I really would like to stop working forever–never work again, never do anything like the kind of work I’m doing now–and do nothing but write poetry and have leisure to spend the day outdoors and go to museums and see friends.

Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does.

I want people to bow as they see me and say he is gifted with poetry, he has seen the presence of the creator.