"As to whether a poem has been written by a great poet or not, this is important only to historians of literature. Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that I have written a beautiful line; let us take this as a working hypothesis. Once I have written it, that linedoes me no good, because, as I've already said, that line came to me from the Holy Ghost, from the subliminal self, or perhaps from some other writer. I often find I am merely quoting something I read some time ago, and then that becomes a rediscovering. Perhaps it is better that a poet should be nameless."

Poetry, Authorship, Creativity, Humility, Inspirational

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"As to whether a poem has been written by a great poet or not, this is important only to historians of literature. Let us suppose, for the sake of argument, that I have written a beautiful line; let us take this as a working hypothesis. Once I have written it, that linedoes me no good, because, as I've already said, that line came to me from the Holy Ghost, from the subliminal self, or perhaps from some other writer. I often find I am merely quoting something I read some time ago, and then that becomes a rediscovering. Perhaps it is better that a poet should be nameless."

Exlpore more Poetry quotes

"For awhile after you quit Keats all other poetry seems to be only whistling or humming."

F. Scott Fitzgerald, American Author

Poetry,

"I don't think Auden liked my poetry very much, he's very Anglican."

Stevie Smith, British Poet

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"When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses."

John F. Kennedy, American President

Poetry, Power, Arrogance, Concern

"Old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know."

J. R. R. Tolkien, English Novelist

Poetry, Beauty, Peace, Happiness, Love

"Everything one invents is true, you may be perfectly sure of that. Poetry is as precise as geometry."

Gustave Flaubert, French Novelist

Poetry, Geometry, May

"Women do not have as great a need for poetry because their own essence is poetry."

Karl Schlegel, German Philosopher

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"And she forgot the stars, the moon, and sun/ And she forgot the blue above the trees,/ And she forgot the dells where waters run,/ And she forgot the chilly autumn breeze;/ She had no knowledge when the day was done,/ And the new morn she saw not: but in peace/ Hung over her sweet basil evermore,/ And moisten'd it with tears unto the core."

John Keats, English Poet

Poetry, Expressive, Nature, Reflection, Peace

"From what the moderns want, we must learn what poetry should become; from what the ancients did, what poetry must be."

Karl Schlegel, German Philosopher

Poetry, Want

"In the grueling light that passed for day..."

Cormac McCarthy, American Writer

Poetry, Light, Life, Description

"Poetry is an art, and chief of the fine art; the easiest to dabble in, the hardest in which to reach true excellence."

Edmund C. Stedman, American Poet

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Explore more quotes by Jorge Luis Borges

"Whatever one man does, it is as if all men did it. For that reason, it is not unfair that one disobedience in a garden should contaminate all humanity; for that reason it is not unjust that the crucifixion of a single Jew should be sufficient to save it."

Responsibility, Ethics, Impact, Justice

"I carried out my plan because I felt The Chief had some fear of those of my race, of those uncountable forebears whose culmination lies in me. I wished to prove to him that a yellow man could save his armies."

Honor, Racism, Identity, War

"Day and night, their frail and crippled ships defy the tempest."

Perseverance, Struggle, Journey, Endurance

"The library will endure; it is the universe. As for us, everything has not been written; we are not turning into phantoms. We walk the corridors, searching the shelves and rearranging them, looking for lines of meaning amid leagues of cacophony and incoherence, reading the history of the past and our future, collecting our thoughts and collecting the thoughts of others, and every so often glimpsing mirrors, in which we may recognize creatures of the information."

Universe, Libraries, Knowledge, Meaning, Humanity

"There are those who seek the love of a woman to forget her, to not think about her."

Love, Memory, Forgetfulness, Desire

"I imagined a labyrinth of labyrinths, a maze of mazes, a twisting, turning, ever-widening labyrinth that contained both past and future and somehow implied the stars. Absorbed in those illusory imaginings, I forgot that I was a pursued man; I felt myself, for an indefinite while, the abstract perceiver of the world. The vague, living countryside, the moon, the remains of the day did their work in me; so did the gently downward road, which forestalled all possibility of weariness. The evening was near, yet infinite."

Imagination, Reflection, Observation, Time

"Time forks perpetually toward innumerable futures. In one of them I am your enemy."

Speculation, Future, Power, Truth, Imagination

"The universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite, perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries."

Science, Universe, Exploration, Observation, Imagination

"It seemed incredible that this day, a day without warnings or omens, might be that of my implacable death."

Mortality, Fate, Uncertainty, Awareness

"I owe my first inkling of the problem of infinity to a large biscuit tin that was a source of vertiginous mystery during my childhood."

Infinity, Curiosity, Wonder, Childhood