Filter quotes by topic
Famous Charles Simic Quotes
“The mind is a palace Walled with mirrors. The mind is a country church Overrun with mice.”
“Inside is where we meet everyone else; it's on the outside that we are truly alone.”
“Like many others, I grew up in an age that preached liberty and built slave camps.”
“I insist on remaining aloof, self-absorbed, lovingly nursing my suspicions.”
“And all of a sudden In the midst of that quiet, It seems possible To live simply on this earth.”
“The truth is dark under your eyelids.”
“The poem I want to write is impossible. A stone that floats.”
“Only brooms Know the devil Still exists, That the snow grows whiter After a crow has flown over it”
“The secret wish of poetry is to stop time.”
“Poems are other people's snapshots in which we see our own lives.”
“A poem is an instant of lucidity in which the entire organism participates.”
“Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.”
“If the sky falls they shall have clouds for supper.”
“A poem is an invitation to a voyage. As in life, we travel to see fresh sights.”
“Only poetry can measure the distance between ourselves and the Other.”
“When people ask me how to find happiness in life I tell them, First learn how to cook.”
“He who cannot howl will not find his pack.”
“Poetry: three mismatched shoes at the entrance of a dark alley.”
“To submit to chance is to reveal the self and its obsessions.”
“Insomnia is an all-night travel agency with posters advertising faraway places.”
“Poetry is an orphan of silence.”
“When you play chess alone it's always your move.”
“Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.”
“Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all others were making ships.”
“The world is beautiful but not sayable. That's why we need art.”