"It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that's enlightenment enough - to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go."

"Bad food is made without pride, by cooks who have no pride, and no love. Bad food is made by chefs who are indifferent, or who are trying to be everything to everybody, who are trying to please everyone … Bad food is fake food … food that shows fear and lack of confidence in people’s ability to discern or to make decisions about their lives. Food that’s too safe, too pasteurized, too healthy – it’s bad! There should be some risk, like unpasteurized cheese. Food is about rot, and decay, and fermentation….as much as it is also about freshness."

"Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for statesmanship – and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milošević. While Henry continues to nibble nori rolls & temaki at A-list parties, Cambodia, the neutral nation he secretly and illegally bombed, invaded, undermined, and then threw to the dogs, is still trying to raise itself up on its one remaining leg."

"You know what’s great about New York? The threshold for citizenship as a New Yorker is actually pretty short. If you come to New York and you still like it two years after you arrived here, and you still think it’s great and you’re having a good time and you haven’t been just totally ground down and go limping back to wherever the fuck you came from, you know what? You’re in!"

"The journey is part of the experience - an expression of the seriousness of one's intent. One doesn't take the A train to Mecca."

"I am in no way supportive of hunting for trophies or sport - would never do it and don't like it that others do. But if you kill it, then eat it, it's fine."

"Only desperation can account for what the Chinese do in the name of 'medicine.' That's something you might remind your New Age friends who've gone gaga over 'holistic medicine' and 'alternative Chinese cures."

"Rally round the flag, boys— Give it to the breeze! That's the banner that we bore On the land and seas. Brave hearts are under it, Let the traitors brag, Gallant lads, fire away! And fight for the flag. Their flag is but a rag— Ours is the true one; Up with the Stars and Stripes! with the new one! Let our colors fly, boys— Guard them day and night; For victory is liberty, And God will bless the right."

""I’m an owl; you’re another. Sir Critic, good day." And the barber kept on shaving."

"Oh, to be home again, home again, home again! Under the apple-boughs, down by the mill!"

"Just then, with a wink and a sly normal lurch, The owl very gravely got down from his perch, Walked round, and regarded his fault-finding critic (Who thought he was stuffed) with a glance analytic."

"The skipper stormed and tore his hair, Hauled on his boots and roared at Marden— "Nantucket's sunk and here we are Right over old Marm Hackett’s garden!""

"Is n’t God upon the ocean Just the same as on the land?"

"What dost thou bring to me, O fair To-day, That comest o'er the mountains with swift feet?"

"O golden Silence, bid our souls be still, And on the foolish fretting of our care Lay thy soft touch of healing unaware!"

"Come, blessed Darkness, come and bring thy balm For eyes grown weary of the garish day! Come with thy soft, slow steps, thy garments gray, Thy veiling shadows, bearing in thy palm The poppy-seeds of slumber, deep and calm."

"Aspirations pure and high — Strength to do and to endure — Heir of all the Ages, I — Lo! I am no longer poor!"

"But the sin forgiven by Christ in Heaven By man is cursed alway!"

"The value of life deepens incalculably with the privileges of travel."

"Let us weep in our darkness—but weep not for him! Not for him—who, departing, leaves millions in tears! Not for him—who has died full of honor and years! Not for him—who ascended Fame’s ladder so high From the round at the top he has stepp'd to the sky."

"It is the month of June, The month of leaves and roses, When pleasant sights salute the eyes, And pleasant scents the noses."

"One lamp—thy mother's love—amid the stars Shall lift its pure flame changeless, and, before The throne of God burn through eternity— Holy—as it was lit and lent thee here."

"They are all up—the innumerable stars— And hold their place in heaven. […] There they stand, Shining in order, like a living hymn Written in light, awaking at the breath Of the celestial dawn, and praising Him Who made them, with the harmony of spheres."

"For it stirs the blood in an old man’s heart, And makes his pulses fly, To catch the thrill of a happy voice, And the light of a pleasant eye."

"If there is any thing that keeps the mind Open to angel visits, and repels The ministry of ill—tis human love."

"Wisdom sits alone Topmost in Heaven."

"He who binds His soul to knowledge steals the key of heaven."

"At present there is no distinction among the upper ten thousand of the city."

"The sweet imperious mouth, whose haughty valor Defied all portents of impending doom."

"Tell him I lingered alone on the shore, Where we parted, in sorrow, to meet nevermore; The night-wind blew cold on my desolate heart But colder those wild words of doom,—“Ye must part.”"

"Star of resplendent front! Thy glorious eye Shines on me still from out yon clouded sky."

"The shy little may-flower weaves her nest; But the south wind blows o'er the fragrant loam, And betrays the path to her woodland home."

"The summer skies are darkly blue, The days are still and bright, And Evening trails her robes of gold Through the dim halls of Night."

"Enchantress of the stormy seas, Priestess of Night's high mysteries!"

"And still the aster greets us, as we pass, With her faint smile,—among the withered grass."

"When summer gathers up her robes of glory, And, like a dream of beauty, glides away."

"Warm lights are on the sleepy uplands waning Beneath dark clouds along the horizon rolled, Till the slant sunbeams, through the fringes raining, Bathe all the hills in melancholy gold."

"Beside the brook and on the umbered meadow, Where yellow fern-tufts fleck the faded ground, With folded lids beneath their palmy shadow, The gentian nods, in dewy slumbers bound."

"Again the fair azalea bows Beneath her snowy crest."

"Hopeless of all he dared to hope so long, The music born within him dies away; Even the song he loved becomes a pain, Full-freighted with a yearning all in vain."

"Where's he that died o' yesterday? What better chance hath he To clink the can and toss the pot When this night's junkets be? For the lad that died o' yesterday Is just as dead — ho! ho! — As the whoreson knave men laid away A thousand years ago."

"Let the winds blow! a fiercer gale Is wild within me! what may quell That sullen tempest? I must sail Whither, O whither, who can tell!"

"Crops failed; wealth took a flight; house, treasure, land, Slipped from my hold—thus plenty comes and goes. One friend I had, but he too loosed his hand (Or was it I?) the year I met with Rose."

"Raven from the dim dominions On the Night's Plutonian shore, Oft I hear thy dusky pinions Wave and flutter round my door— See the shadow of thy pinions Float along the moonlit floor."

"Give me to die unwitting of the day, And stricken in Life's brave heat, with senses clear!"

"O child! dear child! Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my flights be wild, To Earth I bring; Then let me soar and sing!"

"In the lap of hoary Europe lie her children ill at rest, Reaching hands of supplication to their brethren of the West; Pale about the lifeless fountain of their ancient freedom, wait Till the angel move its waters and avenge their stricken state. Let me then, a new crusader, to the eastward set my face, Wake the fires of old tradition on each sacred altar-place, Till a trodden people rouse them, with a clamor as divine As the winds of autumn roaring through the clumps of forest-pine. I myself would seize their banner; they should follow where it led, To the triumph of the victors or the pallor of the dead."

"What if there be a fated day When the Faery Isle shall pass away, And its beautiful groves and fountains seem The myths of a long, delicious dream! A century's joys shall first repay Our hearts, for the evil of that day; And the Elfin-King has sworn to wed A daughter of Earth, whose child shall be, By cross and water hallowe'd, From the fairies' doom forever free. What if there be a fated day! It is far away! it is far away! Maiden, fair Maiden, I, who sing Of this summer isle am the island King."

"O, our feeble tests of greatness! Look for one so calm of soul As to take the even chalice of his life and drink the whole. Noble deeds are held in honor, but the wide world sorely needs Hearts of patience to unravel this, — the worth of common deeds."

"The year of jubilee has come; Gather the gifts of Earth with equal hand; Henceforth ye too may share the birthright soil, The corn, the wine, and all the harvest-home."