Allen Ginsberg

I have been wrathful all my life, angry against my father and all others. My wrath must end. All my images now are of heaven.

I really believe, or want to believe, really I am nuts, otherwise I'll never be sane.

Poetry is the one place where people can speak their original human mind. It is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private.

The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction the weight, the weight we carry is love.

I don't think there's any problem with advancing consciousness and becoming more and more aware of the struggle, not with the world, not to convince other people to do anything. The really interesting thing is the struggle with the self, and the relation with the self, and there is no end to the improvement that can be done there, the discoveries that can be made.

The censorship of language is the censorship of consciousness.

To gain your own voice, forget about having it heard. Become a saint of your own province and your own consciousness.

Our heads are round so thought can change direction.

Poetry is the record of individual insights into the secret soul of the individual and because all individuals are one in the eyes of their creator, into the soul of the world. The world has a soul.

Concentrate on what you want to say to yourself and your friends. Follow your inner moonlight; don't hide the madness. You say what you want to say when you don't care who's listening.

The problem was always to break down the barrier between the public and the private. Authoritarian governments thrive on secrecy, blackmail, and intimidation. If poetry can include our actual lives and reveal the secrets of how we live, that would be a bulwark against the fascists.

Who can live with this Consciousness and not wake frightened at sunrise?

I believe that we are put here in human form to decipher the hieroglyphs of love and suffering. And, there is no degree of love or intensity of feeling that does not bring with it the possibility of a crippling hurt. But, it is a duty to take that risk and love without reserve or defense.

None of us understand what we're doing, but we do beautiful things anyway.

When you notice something clearly and see it vividly, it then becomes sacred.

You are what you think about all day.

The suffering itself is not so bad; it's the resentment against suffering that is the real pain.

Which way will the sunflower turn surrounded by millions of suns?

The message is: Widen the area of consciousness.

Everything is holy! everybody's holy! everywhere is holy! everyday is in eternity! Everyman's an angel!