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Quote by Clive James

“Ban poetry. And make sure that anyone caught reading it is expelled from school. Then it will acquire the glamour.”

Author

Clive James, born on October 7, 1939, is an Australian author, critic, and broadcaster. His works span poetry, fiction, essays, and literary criticism, known for their unique humor and insightful observations. more

“The great thing about living until you get a bit older if you are a writer, and especially a poet, is that you have more life to reflect on. And I think that if I am better now - and I think that I am probably better than I was - is because that I simply have more to think about, more to get under control, more to understand.”

Ifs Thinking Bits Poet Great Things Better Now

Author:Clive James

“Being young is wonderful. But one of the secrets of being a human individual - a mature human individual shall we put it rather grandly - is that you can see this desire in perspective.”

Humans Young Desire Individual Secret Wonderful Perspective Mature

Author:Clive James

“You can't be young always. The day will come when everything will fall apart.”

Young Fall Falling Apart Be Young

Author:Clive James

“The secret for an artist is to make that a subject and not bang your head against the wall and give up. But to turn it into and treat the new subject matter, which is one's own vanishing.”

Giving Matter Artist Turns Secret Subjects Wall Giving Up Treats Bangs Subject Matter Vanishing

Author:Clive James

“I've got life for a subject because as life starts to drain away, you start seeing very clearly what life is, for the first time.”

Firsts Life Is Seeing Subjects First Time Drains

Author:Clive James

“Young men especially - I don't know if young women feel much the same - but young men think they are immortal, automatically. They have no idea of time because they have so much energy and I was like that.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Men Feels Ideas Young Energy No Idea Young Man Immortal Young Women

Author:Clive James

“I try to be specific. One thought at a time. Clear. Articulate. And above all, memorable, if you can be. You'd like to write phrases that people can't forget as soon as they read them.”

People Ifs Writing Trying Forget Clear Phrases Memorable Be You

Author:Clive James

“This quality becomes important at a time when almost everyone is a poet. And as I said, we live in an age where almost everybody is a poet, but scarcely anyone can write a poem.”

Writing Said Important Age Quality Poet

Author:Clive James

“If an artist is any good at all, then he or she will have a later phase that's more interesting than the early one.”

Ifs Artist Interesting Phases

Author:Clive James

“People should be stopped from writing poetry. There's far too much of it. And if they're any good, they'll go ahead anyways.”

People Ifs Should Writing Too Much Writing Poetry

Author:Clive James

Quote by Clive James

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