Home / Authors / James Dickey

James Dickey Quotes

Poet

James Dickey was an influential American poet known for his unique style and profound depiction of Southern American culture. His works often blended elements of poetry, fiction, and drama, leaving a lasting impact on subsequent poets.

Filter quotes by topic

All Feels Ifs Poet Writing Humans Kind Ought Poetry Sometimes Want Asks Crafts Creative Feelings Flash Glorious Human Beings Hundred Life Lightning

Famous James Dickey Quotes

“I go out on the side of a hill, maybe hunting deer, and sit there and see the shadow of night coming over the hill, and I can swear to you there is a part of me that is absolutely untouched by anything civilized. There's a part of me that has never heard of a telephone.”

Poet South Carolina Screenwriter

Author:James Dickey

“A poet trains himself to stand out in a storm and be struck by lightning. If he is lucky enough to be struck six times, he becomes immortal. Randall Jarrell said it and he's right.”

Ifs Said Enough Poet Lucky Six Train Storm Immortal Lightning Standing Out

Book:The voiced connections of James Dickey: interviews and conversations

Source: The voiced connections of James Dickey: interviews and conversations

“We've always had a tradition in America of hounding our artists to death. Look at the list of our great artists, you see a continual history of defeat, frustration, poverty, alcoholism, drug addiction. The best poets of my generation are all suicides.”

Looks America Artist Poverty Generations Poet Drug Tradition Suicide Addiction Defeat Lists Frustration Great Art Alcoholism My Generation Great Artist Drug Addiction Drug Addict Best Poet

Author:James Dickey

“A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning.”

Poetry Poet Rain Poetic Lightning Rainy Rainy Day Raining Day Inspirational Rain Happy Rain Rains Beauty Standing In The Rain

Author:James Dickey

“I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a kind of mean that enables the most dubious practitioners to claim they are poets because they think, If the kind of thing Ginsberg does is poetry, I can do that.”

Ifs Thinking Kind Mean Doe I Can Done Can Do Poet Honor Claims Harm Crafts Live By Reducing Dubious Ginsberg

Author:James Dickey

About the Author

Born: February 2, 1923
Died: January 19, 1997
Known for: Poet
Quotes: 42

Books & Sources

Self-interviewsRelated source material

SortiesRelated source material

DeliveranceRelated source material

The voiced connections of James Dickey: interviews and conversationsRelated source material

James Dickey: The Selected PoemsRelated source material

Night Hurdling: Poems, Essays, Conversations, Commencements, and AfterwordsRelated source material

The Whole Motion: Collected Poems, 1945–1992Related source material

Similar Authors

Edward HirschBrowse related quotes
Billy CollinsBrowse related quotes
Salvatore QuasimodoBrowse related quotes
David BiespielBrowse related quotes
Matthew ZapruderBrowse related quotes
Robert MorganBrowse related quotes
Kenneth KochBrowse related quotes
Ron PadgettBrowse related quotes
W. H. AudenBrowse related quotes
Grace CavalieriBrowse related quotes