We have to raise the consciousness; the only way poets can change the world is to raise the consciousness of the general populace.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

And the Blue Angels are coming back to scare the local population. I remember seeing old Vietnamese women ducking under the benches in Washington Square; they thought they were back in the war.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The paintings may communicate even better because people are lazy and they can look at a painting with less effort than they can read a poem.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

I think if there's a great depression there might be some hope.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Don't patronize the chain bookstores. Every time I see some author scheduled to read and sign his books at a chain bookstore, I feel like telling him he's stabbing the independent bookstores in the back.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

It's the story of an American who wants to become a dictator and goes to Europe with a sidekick to interview various Fascists to find out how the Nazis and Mussolini got into power.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Constantly risking absurdity and death whenever he performs above the heads of his audience, the poet, like an acrobat, climbs on rhyme to a high wire of his own making.
Lawrence Ferlinghetti