Rod McKuen

“For many people, I was a phase, a part of the period of growing up. People ask me why I connected. It was presumptuous of me to say, but I'm Everyman. The difference is I put my thoughts into words.”

“I can't understand people who give up and commit suicide. If I have a bad day, I figure tomorrow will be better. And even if it isn't, at least it isn't any worse.”

“I was tired. I peaked. I left when I was on top. One year, I did 280 concerts.”

“Unless you call attentionto your presencewho will know you're there?Even a countryhas to weave and wave a flagas proof of its existence.”

“I felt that some of my work was OK. If I could do it over, I'd do better.”

“I try not to put messages in my songs. My only message is man's communication with his fellow man. I want to narrow the gap of strangeness and alienation.”

“The journey back is always longer than the forward run.”

“It seems to me that it's every man's obligation to make what contribution he can. You live each day as best you can. That, to me, is what makes life interesting.”

“I have fallen in love with the worldAnd I am aware that I have chosenthe most dangerous lover of them all.”

“I am not convinced the truth can make men free, but I believe it a beginning.”

“We need sex education in schools, but we need it at home first. We need parents to learn the names of the teachers who are teaching their children. We need families to question day-care centers, to question other children and their own as to what goes on.”

“You know, in a way, I wish I could hate a little more. It would make me a more rounded personality.”

“Cats have it all - admiration, an endless sleep, and company only when they want it.”

“The gifts that one receives for giving are so immeasurable that it is almost an injustice to accept them.”