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William Stafford

William Stafford Quotes

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Famous William Stafford Quotes

“I have this feeling of wending my way or plundering through a mysterious jungle of possibilities when I am writing. This jungle has not been explored by previous writers. It never will be explored. It's endlessly varying as we progress through the experience of time. These words that occur to me come out of my relation to the language which is developing even as I am using it.”

WayWritingFeelingsLanguageProgressPossibilityRelationMysteriousMy WayDevelopingJungle
Author:William Stafford
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“Ask Me Some time when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made. Ask me whether what I have done is my life. Others have come in their slow way into my thought, and some have tried to help or to hurt: ask me what difference their strongest love or hate has made. I will listen to what you say. You and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there, hidden; and there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says, that is what I say.”

KnowsWayLooksMadeI CanDoneHelpingHateTurnsAsksWaitingDifferencesHurtMistakeRiversSilentCurrentsMilesIceAsk MeStrongestStillnessMy ThoughtsMiles AwayLove Or Hate
Book:Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
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“The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can’t get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old. Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding. You don’t ever let go of the thread. ~ William Stafford ~”

PeopleWayHardHappensSufferingDiesLostHurtWonderLetting GoTragedyThreadUnfoldingStop Time
Author:William Stafford
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