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Poet Quotes

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Poet Quotes

“I started as - well, I wanted to be Poet Laureate. And I wanted to be a naturalist. That's how I began. I didn't have any desire to go and be a scientist. Louis Leakey channeled me there. I'm delighted he did. I love science. I love analyzing and making sense of all these observations. So, it was the perfect rounding off of who I was into who I am.”

Wells Wanted Desire Perfect Poet Scientist Who I Am Observation Make Sense Delighted Analyzing Naturalist Science Love

Author:Jane Goodall

“Plato, by the way, wanted to banish all poets from his proposed Utopia because they were liars. The truth was that Plato knew philosophers couldn't compete successfully with poets.”

Way Wanted Poet Philosopher Liars Plato Utopia

Author:Kurt Vonnegut

“I have always wanted to play different kinds of stuff, but it's hard, first to find good material, and then to change people's perception of you so they'll let you do it. I mean, I would really like to play a poet, but once they get this notion of you as a street guy, it's hard to change that.”

People Firsts Kind Mean Different Hard Play Wanted Guy Stuff Streets Poet Materials Perception Notion Different Kinds

Author:Matt Dillon

“I don't think I ever had a morning where I woke up and said I'm going to be a professional poet. I know I've always loved poetry, I've always loved writing poetry and I've always loved sharing poetry. I've also always known that I wanted that to somehow be a very large part of my life and I'm very fortunate that it's such a large part of my life.”

Thinking Knows Writing Said Wanted Known Morning Poet Fortunate Writing Poetry

Author:Sarah Kay

“After all, poets shouldn't be their own interpreters and shouldn't carefully dissect their poems into everyday prose; that would mean the end of being poets. Poets send their creations into the world, it is up to the reader, the aesthetician, and the critic to determine what they wanted to say with their creations.”

World Mean Ends Wanted Poetry Creation Poet Reader Criticism Critics Everyday Determine Prose Interpreter

Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“I was brought up in a home where I saw my parents read and I was taken to bookshops and libraries, so I grew up feeling very comfortable around books. Also, Ireland is a country which has honoured its writers and poets, so when someone says they wanted to be a writer, its not mocked or looked down upon.”

Book Country Feelings Home Wanted Parent Taken Saws Poet Grew Comfortable Grew Up Library Ireland Bookshops Writers And Poets

Author:Michael Scott

“Living is the original art. As a young man I wanted to be a poet and I learned along the way that I already was a poet.”

Men Way Art Wanted Young Poet Originals Young Man Original Art

Author:Mark Nepo

“I've always wanted to be a poet at the beginning. I would look at my grandparents' books and my parents' books. And in my family, a typical aspirational Jewish family, being a writer was very much exalted, and it seemed impossible to me, that I could ever do something like that.”

Looks Book Wanted Parent Impossible Poet My Family Typical Grandparent Exalted Jewish Family

Author:Mark Leyner

“I wanted to be a poet. I had a really romantic idea about what that would mean. My parents knew some poets, and I liked how they dressed and acted, but I didn't really acknowledge that I only liked reading some bits of poetry while I was peeing or something.”

Mean Ideas Wanted Reading Bits Parent Poet Acknowledge Really Romantic

Author:Lena Dunham

“I wanted to be a poet and/or an artist, but I was very lazy (frightened of failure, I guess) and drank too much.”

Wanted Artist Too Much Poet Lazy Frightened Drank

Author:Peter Blegvad

“Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive, they never wrote the poems they wanted to.”

Knows Soul Wanted Alive Poet Quiet Do You Know Legends Cicadas

Book:G. John Berger

Source: G. John Berger

“I thought originally when I was in school and I wanted to be a poet, I knew that poets seemed to be miserable.”

Wanted School Poet Miserable

Author:Billy Collins

“I'm a poet born in the era of Andy Warhol and a generation that wanted to be famous.”

Wanted Born Generations Poet Eras Warhol

Author:Eileen Myles

“I mainly wanted non-english writing poets, because I loved the idea that I was translating translations.”

Writing Ideas Wanted Poet Translate Translations English Writing

Author:Simone Muench

“I started out as a poet who primarily wanted to write about image and moment. Over the years I've been trying to teach myself how to do plot and scene. My first story collection had the most issues with the plotlessness, and when I was writing my second collection I was teaching myself how to make things happen.”

Writing Trying Years Firsts Moments Stories Happens Wanted Teach Issues Teaching Poet Scene Things Happen Collections Plot Make Things Happen

Author:Dan Chaon

“I think Walt Whitman went to the help wanted section and found a squib that said "Wanted: National Poet." And he was innocent enough to believe there really was such a job. And if he could just write a poem that incorporated everything he felt and suspected and hoped for from America that he would have the position.”

Ifs Thinking Writing Believe Said Enough Helping Wanted Jobs America Found Felt Position Poet Innocent Sections Walt

Author:Allan Gurganus

“I was nine when I first knew I wanted to be a writer, in particular, a poet.”

Firsts Wanted Particular Poet Nine

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“Only the poets can hold the country together, and I wanted to hold Germany together.”

Country Wanted Together Poet Germany

Author:Werner Herzog

“I had this idea for a long time to make a film about a poet in Paterson named Patterson. I wanted him to be working class. Eventually I thought a bus was a perfect visual way to move him, to drift him through the city, to have a measured kind of routine lifestyle. And all these things kind of congealed into the film "Paterson" eventually.”

Way Kind Long Ideas Wanted Film Moving Perfect Cities Class Poet Long Time Lifestyle Visuals Routine Bus Working Class

Author:Jim Jarmusch

“As an artist, I never wanted to be fettered by gender nor recognized or defined as a female poet, musician or singer. They don't do that with men - nobody says Picasso, the male artist. Curators call me up and say, "We want your work to be in a show about women artists," and I'm like, why? For Christ's sake, do we have to attach a gender onto everything?”

Men Want Shows Wanted Artist Christ Poet Musician Female Males Sake Gender Singers Defined Call Me Curator Woman Artist

Author:Patti Smith

“I always wanted to be an artist, writer and poet since I was seven, and one has to live long enough to evolve as an artist and do one's finest work.”

Long Enough Wanted Artist Poet Seven Evolve Finest Writers And Poets

Author:Patti Smith

“My dad wanted to name me after Rainier Maria Rilke, the poet.”

Wanted Names Poet Dad My Dad

Author:Rainn Wilson