''The beginning of Canadian cultural nationalism was not "Am I really that oppressed?" but "Am I really that boring?"''
''If a stranger taps you on the ass and says, "How's the little lady today!" you will probably cringe. But if he's an American, he's only being friendly.''
''We yearned for the future. How did we learn it, that talent for insatiability?''
''Popular art is the dream of society; it does not examine itself.''
''Everyone thinks writers must know more about the inside of the human head, but that is wrong. They know less, that's why they write. Trying to find out what everyone else takes for granted.''
''I feel that the task of criticizing my poetry is best left to others (i.e. critics) and would much rather have it take place after I am dead. If at all.''
''I've never understood why people consider youth a time of freedom and joy. It's probably because they have forgotten their own.''