Best Great Poet Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings Page 2

Source: The Complete Poetry of John Keats: Ode on a Grecian Urn + Ode to a Nightingale + Hyperion + Endymion + The Eve of St. Agnes + Isabella + Ode to Psyche + Lamia + Sonnets and more from one of the most beloved English Romantic poets

“I think that poets can say, "What we want is for everybody on earth to wake up free from fear and with access to medicine and clean water and education." But I don't think poets have any special insight on how to get there. And the 20th century is a pretty good record of that because so many of the great poets were Stalinists: Vallejo, Neruda, Eluard, Aragon, etc. They wrote their odes to Lenin and Stalin. They glorified some of the most violent and grotesque dictatorships of the 20th century. And a lot of the ones who were not Stalinists were fascists or fascist sympathizers.”

“I think it was W.H. Auden who said he was lucky that his first favorite poet was Thomas Hardy, who was a good but not a great poet, because if you are exposed to the greats too soon it can just squash you as a writer.”

Ifs Thinking Firsts Said Poet Lucky Exposed Hardy Great Poet Squash Auden

Author:David Duchovny

“If you look at the recent Nobel Prize winners, one couldn't say that the work didn't matter and the political commitment did. Who had ever heard of the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz? He is not politically involved. Octavio Paz is a great poet, also not politically involved. The Nobel Prize is for literature, for the quality of work over the years.”

Ifs Years Looks Matter Political Literature Quality Heard Poet Involved Commitment Winner Prize Nobel Nobel Prize Egyptian Great Poet Quality Work Nobel Prize Winners

Author:Nadine Gordimer

“There's great poetry in the Old Testament and the New Testament. And I'm not interested in trying to prove whether this paragraph is as it was or as it should have been or should not be. My pursuit is to find the truth for me in those stories and make them apropos. The important thing is that people wrote them. These were inspirational stories, and you got to see them that way. If you don't, you'll get in trouble. So I'm not going to spend a lot of time trying to find out whether or not Mary was a virgin. What do I care about Mary being a virgin?”

People Trying Important Care Trouble Prove Not Interested I Care New Testament Old Testament Paragraph Great Poet Great Poetry

Author:Cecil Williams

“It's difficult not to color our perception of author's product with his personality. There are so many examples of this. What do we think of Ezra Pound - clearly a great poet and clearly kind of an asshole? You can say the same thing about Louis-Ferdinand Céline, who clearly was a Nazi sympathizer, and yet one of the great writers of the 20th century. It is tough, but there are enough examples around where we have to somehow find a way of separating the work from the artist and seeing what there is to see in the work, while also condemning the thoughts we see in the man.”

Thinking Men Kind Enough Artist Difficult He Man Poet Personality Perception Tough Nazi 20th Century Great Writers Great Poet

Author:Salman Rushdie

“I think that what I learned then, I didn't know I was learning. I just knew that I was very privileged to see somebody who was a writer, a great poet, and very smart-faced. Suddenly Pasolini becomes a director, so he has to invent cinema. It was like watching the invention of cinema. But I found out that Pasolini taught me a lot. It was, especially, the kind of respect that he had for reality. He had kind of epiphanies in his movies, like when a moment becomes full of grace, and it is like as if it was the most important moment in the life of a character.”

Thinking Kind Important Moments Character Reality Grace Poet Invention Epiphany Very Smart Great Poet

Author:Bernardo Bertolucci

“I don't even think any stimulants really help writing. You talk to most guys and they say, "Hey. I wrote this." And they're out of their head or they had a few beers or a bottle of whiskey. You wake up the next morning, it's usually pretty crap. But you know Dylan Thomas wrote some great poetry. Brendan Behan. You never know but ultimately I'd say you have to get up early in the morning and you're usually sober when you write your good stuff; it's hard work. So alcohol, keep it for chilling out, fun, and having a good time. Not for work.”

Thinking Writing Helping Guy Fun Morning Hard Work Wake Up Alcohol Beer Good Times Crap Sober Chill Dylan Having A Good Time Whiskey Great Poet Great Poetry

Author:Gavin Friday

“I've noticed that there can be a visceral reaction to strong statements about poetry, as if anyone who has an opinion and expresses it is shutting people down. It's funny to see that expressed, and then to go back and read poetic statements by the great poets of the past: they are full of a passionate conviction! It is clearly possible to express strong feelings about poetry while also defending the absolute right of myriad approaches.”

People Feelings Past Strong Opinion Poet Passionate Conviction Poetic Great Poet Strong Feeling

Author:Matthew Zapruder

“Michel Aflaq - is bad poetry wrapped in the guise of utopian politics, or great poetry wrapped in the guise of horrible politics.”

Horrible Utopian Great Poet Great Poetry

Author:Elliott Colla

“A subject for a great poet would be God's boredom after the seventh day of creation.”

Would Be Subjects Creation Poet Boredom Great Day Great Poet

Author:Friedrich Nietzsche

“I worked privately, and sometimes I feel that might be better for poets than the kind of social workshop gathering. My school was the great poets: I read, and I read, and I read.”

Feels Kind Sometimes Might School Social Poet Gathering Workshops Great Poet

Author:Mary Oliver

“A great poet is the most precious jewel of a nation.”

Nations Poet Poetic Jewels Great Poet Precious Jewels

Book:Letters from the Collection of Ludwig Nohl: Also His Letters to the Archduke Rudolph, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olmütz, K.W. from the Collection of Ludwig, Ritter Von Köchel. Translated by Lady Wallace, with a Portrait and Facsimile

Source: Letters from the Collection of Ludwig Nohl: Also His Letters to the Archduke Rudolph, Cardinal-Archbishop of Olmütz, K.W. from the Collection of Ludwig, Ritter Von Köchel. Translated by Lady Wallace, with a Portrait and Facsimile

“To have great poets, there must be great audiences.”

Science Poetry History Audience Learning Poet Discovery Poetic Great Poet Great Poetry Poetry By Famous Poets

Book:Prose Works 1892, Volume II: Collect and Other Prose

Source: Prose Works 1892, Volume II: Collect and Other Prose

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.”