"Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for."
"Don't be surprised if I demur, for, be advised my passport's green."
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Source: 'Open Letter' (Field Day pamphlet no. 2, 1983) p. 9, rebuking the editors of 'The Penguin Book of Contemporary British Poetry' for including him among its authors
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"Believe that a further shore is reachable from here."
"Even if the hopes you started out with are dashed, hope has to be maintained."
"Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what's said and what's done."
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"If you have the words, there's always a chance that you'll find the way."