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Quote by John Ashbery

“I am often asked why I write, and I don't know really--I just want to.”

Author

John Ashbery is an influential American poet born on July 28, 1927. Known for his innovative poetry style and rich imagination, his work has had a profound impact on postmodern poetry. more

“The promise of learning is a delusion.... Tomorrow would alter the sense of what had already been learned, that the learning process is extended in this way, so that from this standpoint none of us ever graduates from college, for time is an emulsion, and probably thinking not to grow up is the brightest kind of maturity for us, right now at any rate.”

Thinking Way Kind Grows Process Growing Up College Tomorrow Promise Right Now Rate Maturity Delusion Graduates Standpoint Learning Process

Book:Selected poems

Source: Selected poems

“I would like to please the reader, and I think that surprise has to be an element of this, and that may necessitate a certain amount of teasing. To shock the reader is something else again. That has to be handled with great care if you're not going to alienate and hurt him, and I'm firmly against that, just as I disapprove of people who dress with that in mind - dye their hair blue and stick safety pins through their noses and so on.”

People Ifs Thinking Mind May Care Certain Hurt Hair Reader Amount Please Elements Dresses Safety Blue Sticks Surprise Noses Shock Pins Tease Safety Pins

Author:John Ashbery

“Just keep playing, mastering as you do the step Into disorder this one meant. Don't you see It's all we can do? Meanwhile, great fires Arise, as of haystacks aflame. The dial has been set And that's ominous, but all your graciousness in living Conspires with it, now that this is our home: A place to be from, and have people ask about.”

People Has Beens Home Asks Can Do Steps Fire Arise Disorder Graciousness Ominous

Book:A Wave: Poems

Source: A Wave: Poems

“How funny your name would be if you could follow it back to where the first person thought of saying it, naming himself that, or maybe some other persons thought of it and named that person. It would be like following a river to its source, which would be impossible. Rivers have no source.”

Ifs Firsts Persons Would Be Names Impossible Source Rivers Following First Person

Book:Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems

Source: Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems

“I write strictly for fun... as long as it stays fun I'll continue to do it.”

Writing Long Fun

Author:Tom Clancy

“If a hero must have an unmarked grave, it should at least be close to where his comrades fell." "Comrades?" "One way or another we all fight for the things we believe in. Doesn't that give us some common ground?”

Ifs Way Giving Should Believe Fighting Common Hero Graves One Way Comrade Common Ground

Book:Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

Source: Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

“Things rarely happen for a single reason. Even the cleverest and most skilled manipulators recognize that their real art lies in making use of that which they cannot predict.”

Art Real Reason Use Happens Lying Manipulator

Book:Debt of Honor

Source: Debt of Honor

“People, I am actually fairly smart. Why has this not occurred to anyone? The information is all out there, if you go looking for it, and the classified stuff just comes from analyzing the unclassified stuff and connecting the dots.”

People Ifs Stuff Information Smart Connecting Dots Analyzing Connecting The Dots Classified Information

Author:Tom Clancy

“Wars are begun by frightened men. They fear war, but more than that, they fear what will happen if they don't start one or take equivalent action, I suppose.”

Ifs Men War Happens Action Frightened

Book:Red Rabbit

Source: Red Rabbit

Quote by John Ashbery

Author

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