Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Ted Kooser

Quote by Ted Kooser

“After Years Today, from a distance, I saw you walking away, and without a sound the glittering face of a glacier slid into the sea. An ancient oak fell in the Cumberlands, holding only a handful of leaves, and an old woman scattering corn to her chickens looked up for an instant. At the other side of the galaxy, a star thirty-five times the size of our own sun exploded and vanished, leaving a small green spot on the astronomer's retina as he stood on the great open dome of my heart with no one to tell.”

Quote by Ted Kooser

Work

Delights and Shadows

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser

Ted Kooser is a renowned American poet, born on April 25, 1939. His poetry is known for its simplicity and directness, which has earned him a wide readership. Kooser served as the Poet Laureate of the United States and has won numerous literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1993. more

You May Also Like

“Я взявся перетрушувати баул і серед хламу витрусив з нього книжку. Це була збірка вибраних віршів Сєрґєя Єсєніна. Тобто якийсь руский, їдучи в Україну вбивати нас, у дуже стислий перелік найнеобхідніших речей, поряд зі штанами й аптечкою, взяв зі собою книжку.”

“We refer to them only as "the War." This is because one experiencing war cannot fathom that anyone else in history has ever existed in such a heightened state as this. Though we know, through logic and reason and literary documentation, that we are not, in fact, singular--the heart disagrees. No war could be more sanguinary. More storied. Yes this is The War. The only war that ever has been or will be--because it is ours. In this way, war is like love.”

“history teaches us that wars are not fought with arms alone. In times of conflict and occupation, language can be a powerful weapon, where refusing the occupier’s words becomes an act of honor, dignity, and defiance. In this sense, every word spoken in a native language goes beyond the boundaries of the conventional concept of speech to become an instrument of boycott and resistance, a pursuit of self-expression, liberation, and survival, and a declaration of self-determination, freedom, and independence.”