Holly Near

I like this life. I like it when it's hard, and I like it better when it's not, but I know you don't get the sweet part without the bitter.

My parents encouraged thought. You'll get through life better if you learn how to think.

I'm not allowing my perspective to be dictated by the dominant culture.

Part of keeping space open is not to try to choose a form - to spend more time thinking about content, and let form take care of itself.

To my great surprise and pleasure, I have had dinner with most of the people living with whom I would like to have dinner.

Music can be used against us as much as it can be used for us. Muzak can put a whole nation to sleep, whereas a lullaby is intended to put a child to sleep in a sweet way.

We who are interested in relative truth have to keep digging for it and not let ourselves be sucked under.

To be always in a state of wonder is a kind of sensitivity that can sometimes be an extraordinary blessing and sometimes a real pain.

Language is like songs, like food, like dance-it is the expression of what we think.

My creativity and my political work are linked. I don't do this work out of guilt or out of responsibility.