"I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul. The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me."

"I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd, I stand and look at them long and long."

"I believe in the perfectibility of human nature. I believe that man is an animal that can be perfected."

"I am a kosmos, of Manhattan the son, Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding."

"The greatest poem is the one that has yet to be written."