There’s nothing to stop a man from writing unless that man stops himself. If a man truly desires to write, then he will. Rejection and ridicule will only strengthen him. And the longer he is held back the stronger he will become, like a mass of rising water against a dam. There is no losing in writing, it will make your toes laugh as you sleep, it will make you stride like a tiger, it will fire the eye and put you face to face with death. You will die a fighter, you will be honored in hell. The luck of the word. Go with it, send it.

Most of my life I was particularly terrified of speaking up, because I had a speech impediment, which made it difficult to pronounce certain letters, sounds, and I felt like I was fine writing on the page, but once I got on stage, I was worried my words might jumble and stumble.

Writing wasn’t just a form of expression. It was a form of pathology by embarking on spoken word over and over and over again and reciting my poems.

I think sometimes our terror is a great kind of flag to symbolize a type of love or greatness. The fact that I was so afraid, that I knew there was a reason that I was tapping into every well of courage that I had to show up into that space. Because the space needed to be revisited; that space needed to be revamped and it needed to be reconciled with. And I thought one of the few and also most fervent ways we have to do that is with poems.

You are not your job. It does not define who you are or all that you have to offer. Your real value is based upon who you are, not what you do. The only thing you need to do is express your real self to the world. You’ve been conditioned to think this is unproductive or that you can’t make money at it. But you’ll never know true happiness and fulfillment until you find the courage to do it anyway. Learn to trust your inner wisdom, even if the whole world says you’re wrong.

Where’s that smile? There it is!

‘Addressing politics in my music’ is such a phrase, a sentence on paper, that I hate. That’s not really me because at the end of the day, I wasn’t a political science major and I wasn’t educated in that sense so I hate when people talk about things they don’t know anything about.

For what is a book
If not foremost a body,
Waiting & wanting —
Yearning to be whole,
Full of itself.

Call us an exodus,
Plagued ten times over,
For all we see is red.
Intentional language, like a poem,
Is to separate our waters like a gash,
To find the sea also grieving & giving
Enough to be walked through.

Some days, we just need a place
Where we can bleed in peace.
Our only word for this is Poem.

Despair exits us the same way it enters —
Turning through the mouth.
Even now conviction works
Strange magic on our tongues.

Grief commands its own grammar,
Structured by intimacy & imagination.

One phrase that got me through many difficult times in my life was: God’s delays are not God’s denials.

Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.

ah, christ, what a CREW:
more
poetry, always more
POETRY.

I’m only interested in poetry.

Poetry is what happens when nothing else can.

He even got up once in English class and read an essay called ‘The Value of Friendship’ and while he was reading it he kept glancing at me. It was a stupid essay, soft and standard, but the class applauded when he finished, and I thought, well, that’s what people think and what can you do about it? I wrote a counter-essay called, ‘The Value of No Friendship At All.’ The teacher didn’t let me read it to the class. She gave me a D.

“This is very creative,” said Mrs. Fretag, and she began to read my essay. The words sounded good to me. Everybody was listening. My words filled the room, from blackboard to blackboard, they hit the ceiling and bounced off, they covered Mrs. Fretag’s shoes and piled up on the floor.

I suppose I’ll say it all started with a love letter.

I love dressing up. It’s the best part of being a girl, I think.

I just told you what I think, now say something DAMMIT!

I love her… I love her. I wanted to be free to act on my feelings, and wanted that person to understand…

I want to kiss every corner of your body to express all love, which I have in my heart.

Mozart’s music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as a reflection of the inner beauty of the universe.

Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.

We write because you might listen.

There is nothing so agonizing, or so dangerous, as a memory unexpressed, unexplored, unexplained, & unexploded. Grief is the grenade that always goes off.

Words, too, are a type of combat, for we always become what we refuse to say.

Words matter, for
Language is an ark.
Yes,
Language is an art,
An articulate artifact.
Language is a life craft.
Yes,
Language is a life raft.

Writing is when I fly, writing is when I start fires. Writing is when I take death out of my left pocket, throw him against the wall and catch him as he bounces back.

Poetry it takes a lot of desperation dissatisfaction and disillusion to write a few good poems. It’s not for everybody either to write it or even to read it.

Writing is its own intoxication.

Writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all.

Grinning from asshole to eyebrow.

“It almost seemed like a fuck, maybe better.”
“It didn’t mean anything, it was just dancing.”

There was a soldier in the next room living with his wife and he would soon be going over there to protect me from Hitler so I snapped the radio off and then heard his wife say, “you shouldn’t have done that.” And the soldier said, “FUCK THAT GUY!” which I thought was a very nice thing for him to tell his wife to do. Of course, she never did.

Stood a supervisor, another Stone, and he had this look on his face — they must practice it in front of mirrors, all the supervisors had this look on their faces — they looked at you as if you were a hunk of human shit.

I could scream down 90 mountains
to less than dust
if only one living human had eyes in the head
and heart in the body,
but there is no chance,
my god,
no chance.
rat with rat dog with dog hog with hog,
play the piano drunk
listen to the drunk piano,
realize the myth of mercy
stand still
as even a child’s voice snarls
and we have not been fooled,
it was only that we wanted to believe.

Most people are much better at saying things in letters than in conversation, and some people can write artistic, inventive letters, but when they try a poem or story or novel they become pretentious.

Words simply cannot tell how much I love you. There aren’t enough words in the world to express my feelings for you, so I will just say: I Love You.

Poetry and language are often at the heartbeat of movements for change.

A word is dead when it is said, some say. I say it just begins to live that day.

I can’t get the words out. I have to gather my courage. Courage…it’s time to be brave. I’m not going to put the lid back on. This feeling…can’t be stopped anymore. It’s time to be brave.

This month is like a blank canvas. What will you paint on it?

Let’s get right to it: there’s no better time to give your style an upgrade than the start of a new month. Go ahead, be the best you can be.

Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn.

The way I drive, the way I drive my truck, is an expression of my inner feelings.

The things that are not easy for me to talk about and express, I express through my music. I’m just very serious about my art.

I’ve just always been a reader. My grandmother just expressed the importance of literacy, if I said that correctly. She just always expressed the importance of being able to write and being able to read.

Rap was more of a release for me, a journal.

I always had music growing up, but music was also like a journal. It was like my personal diary or personal journal. A lot of the things I couldn’t express to an individual, I would express them in my music.

The purpose of the Bible is simply to proclaim God’s plan to save His children. It asserts that man is lost and needs to be saved. And it communicates the message that Jesus is the God in the flesh sent to save His children.

That’s God’s design for the way we give and express His generosity. Giving is meant to be joyful and fulfilling.

I try to tell all the – not even the kids, even people older than me – to just be themselves. Don’t wear what I wear ’cause I wear it; wear what you like.

Usually, when I’m rappin’, I’m creating a big story or a concept song that sounds like a movie to me.

There was something in her eyes! Her eyes were expressive and from the first day that they met, they spoke to him a million things! He could know which night she had cried, which night she had slept peacefully and which night of hers had been spent in complete sleeplessness.

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following act of expressing thankfulness.

Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.

Be grateful for all the wonderful things that come your way, and keep thanking God for them. You should express your thanks to everything that has helped you get where you are now.

You were created as a masterpiece and you are one of God’s expressions of beauty. Short, tall, thin, thick, freckles, big eyes, small ones… it doesn’t matter.

Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.

Just express your mental state to your barber, he will understand what haircut will suit you in this state.

‘English fair play’ is a fine expression. It justifies the bashing of the puny draper’s assistant by the big hairy blacksmith, and this to the perfect satisfaction of both parties, if they are worthy the name of Englishman.

There is a peculiarity in the countenance, as everybody knows, which, though it cannot be described, is sure to betray the Englishman.

By the way, whenever an Englishman would cry ‘All right!’ an American cries ‘Go ahead!’ which is somewhat expressive of the national character of the two countries.

I’m Kenny Powers! And I am very upset with how I am acting right now. I just have a very hard time expressing my emotions, and I can’t stop from yelling.