Quotes by Poet | Beyond Motive 71/304

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Quotes by Poet

"Ambition is not what man does... but what man would do."

"Ambition is not what man does... but what man would do."

Robert Browning, English Poet

14

"When someone beats a rug,the blows are not against the rug, but against the dust in it."

"When someone beats a rug,the blows are not against the rug, but against the dust in it."

Rumi, Persian Poet

Metaphor, Wisdom, Perception, Change, Truth

14

"The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell youDon't go back to sleep!You must ask for what you really want.Don't go back to sleep!People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,The door is round and openDon't go back to sleep!"

"The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell youDon't go back to sleep!You must ask for what you really want.Don't go back to sleep!People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,The door is round and openDon't go back to sleep!"

Rumi, Persian Poet

Awakening, Inspirational, Awareness, Dream, Wisdom

14

"This is the great fault of wine; it first trips up the feet: it is a cunning wrestler."

"This is the great fault of wine; it first trips up the feet: it is a cunning wrestler."

Titus Maccius Plautus, Roman Poet

Alcohol, Cunning, Fault, First, Wine

14

"Your wealth is where your friends are."

"Your wealth is where your friends are."

Titus Maccius Plautus, Roman Poet

Friendship, Wealth, Friends

14

"Sleep like you can never be deadDream as if you have a soul inside your head."

"Sleep like you can never be deadDream as if you have a soul inside your head."

Munia Khan, Bangladeshi Poet

Sleep, Dream, Soul, Life

14

"I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do."

"I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I thought poetry could do."

David Antin, American Poet

Poetry, Thought

14

"We simply have not kept in touch with poetry."

"We simply have not kept in touch with poetry."

Paul Muldoon, English Poet

14

"If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution."

"If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution."

Wallace Stevens, American Poet

Poetry, Bible, Aspirations, Needs

14

"Now the Bible tells us that we are all by nature, sinners, that we are slaves to sin and Satan, and that unless we are converted, or born again, we must be miserable forever."

"Now the Bible tells us that we are all by nature, sinners, that we are slaves to sin and Satan, and that unless we are converted, or born again, we must be miserable forever."

Jupiter Hammon, American Poet

Nature, Bible, Now, Satan

14

"An anthill increases by accumulation. Medicine is consumed by distribution. That which is feared lessens by association. This is the thing to understand."

"An anthill increases by accumulation. Medicine is consumed by distribution. That which is feared lessens by association. This is the thing to understand."

Ovid, Roman Poet

14

"For some reason most critics have a hard time fixing their minds directly under their noses, and before they see the object that is there they use a telescope upon the horizon to see where it came from."

"For some reason most critics have a hard time fixing their minds directly under their noses, and before they see the object that is there they use a telescope upon the horizon to see where it came from."

Allen Tate, American Poet

Time, Noses, Reason

14

"No poem is easily grasped; so why should any reader expect fast results?"

"No poem is easily grasped; so why should any reader expect fast results?"

John Barton, Canadian Poet

14

"Become dangerously open to all points of view. Are you dangerously open, or safely closed?"

"Become dangerously open to all points of view. Are you dangerously open, or safely closed?"

Bryant McGill, American Poet

Openness, Truth, Power, Inspirational, Wisdom

14

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Poet

Friendship, Blessings, Friends, Old

14

"Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it."

"Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once in a minute something generous dies for want of it."

John Masefield, English Poet

Man, May, Praise, Want

14

"Luck's always to blame."

"Luck's always to blame."

Jean de La Fontaine, French Poet

14

"All deception in the course of life is indeed nothing else but a lie reduced to practice, and falsehood passing from words into things."

"All deception in the course of life is indeed nothing else but a lie reduced to practice, and falsehood passing from words into things."

Robert Southey, English Poet

Life, Lie, Deception, Falsehood

14

"Of course a poem is a two-way street. No poem is any good if it doesn't suggest to the reader things from his own mind and recollection that he will read into it, and will add to what the poet has suggested. But I do think poetry readings are very important."

"Of course a poem is a two-way street. No poem is any good if it doesn't suggest to the reader things from his own mind and recollection that he will read into it, and will add to what the poet has suggested. But I do think poetry readings are very important."

James Laughlin, American Poet

Poetry, Mind, Will

14

"O, for an engine, to keep back all clocks, or make the sun forget his motion!"

"O, for an engine, to keep back all clocks, or make the sun forget his motion!"

Ben Jonson, English Poet

Time, Clocks, Forget, Sun

14

"But the question is to find and rear leaders that are really one with the masses. This can only be accomplished by the masses, the political parties and the Trade Unions, by means of the most severe struggle, also inwardly."

"But the question is to find and rear leaders that are really one with the masses. This can only be accomplished by the masses, the political parties and the Trade Unions, by means of the most severe struggle, also inwardly."

Herman Gorter, Dutch Poet

Leadership, Leaders, Question, Struggle, Trade

14

"If you learn to look at the worldly madness through spiritual eyes, you will begin to see divine balance and sanity."

"If you learn to look at the worldly madness through spiritual eyes, you will begin to see divine balance and sanity."

Bryant McGill, American Poet

Sanity, Truth, Wisdom, Power, Inspirational

14

"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."

"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."

Philip James Bailey, English Poet

Time, Heart, Thoughts, Deeds

14

"When you are skinning your customers, you should leave some skin on to grow again so that you can skin them again."

"When you are skinning your customers, you should leave some skin on to grow again so that you can skin them again."

Nikki Giovanni, American Poet

14

"The flame of anger, bright and brief, sharpens the barb of love."

"The flame of anger, bright and brief, sharpens the barb of love."

Walter Savage Landor, English Poet

14

"Being fearless is not in the absence of fear, it's just about fearing less."

"Being fearless is not in the absence of fear, it's just about fearing less."

TemitOpe Ibrahim, Nigerian Poet

Motivation, Courage, Fear, Truth, Power

14

"The flow of spiritual connectedness and oneness with life will dwell in you if your heart and mind is open and innocent."

"The flow of spiritual connectedness and oneness with life will dwell in you if your heart and mind is open and innocent."

Bryant McGill, American Poet

Oneness, Wisdom, Truth, Life, Happiness

14

"A good action is never lost; it is a treasure laid up and guarded for the doer's need."

"A good action is never lost; it is a treasure laid up and guarded for the doer's need."

Edwin Markham, American Poet

Action, Treasure

14

"There are divers men who make a great show of loyalty, and pretend to such discretion in the hidden things they hear, that at the end folk come to put faith in them."

"There are divers men who make a great show of loyalty, and pretend to such discretion in the hidden things they hear, that at the end folk come to put faith in them."

Marie de France, French Poet

Faith, Men, Discretion, End

14

"In my opinion, Al Moritz may be the best poet of his generation in Canada."

"In my opinion, Al Moritz may be the best poet of his generation in Canada."

George Murray, Canadian Poet

Poetry, Canada, May, Opinion

14

"Is there no Latin word for Tea? Upon my soul, if I had known that I would have let the vulgar stuff alone."

"Is there no Latin word for Tea? Upon my soul, if I had known that I would have let the vulgar stuff alone."

Hilaire Belloc, English Poet

Soul, Tea, Word

14

"There have been two popular subjects for poetry in the last few decades: the Vietnam War and AIDS, about both of which almost all of us have felt deeply."

"There have been two popular subjects for poetry in the last few decades: the Vietnam War and AIDS, about both of which almost all of us have felt deeply."

Thom Gunn, British Poet

Poetry, War, Popular, Vietnam

14

"Giving is good, but taking is bad and brings death."

"Giving is good, but taking is bad and brings death."

Hesiod, Greek Poet

14

"I was born to travel and write verse."

"I was born to travel and write verse."

Theophile Gautier, French Poet

14

"The soul is neither inside nor outside the body; neither proximate to nor separate from it."

"The soul is neither inside nor outside the body; neither proximate to nor separate from it."

Muhammed Iqbal, Indian Poet

14

"The eye is the notebook of the poet."

"The eye is the notebook of the poet."

James Russell Lowell, American Poet

14

"There is no such thing as a life of passion any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who would ever shave themselves in such a state?"

"There is no such thing as a life of passion any more than a continuous earthquake, or an eternal fever. Besides, who would ever shave themselves in such a state?"

George Byron, Scottish Poet

Life, Passion, State

14

"Good sense is both the first principal and the parent source of good writing."

"Good sense is both the first principal and the parent source of good writing."

Horace, Roman Poet

Clarity, First, Sense, Writing

14

"I think if there's a great depression there might be some hope."

"I think if there's a great depression there might be some hope."

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, American Poet

Hope, Depression

14

"Originality does not consist in saying what no one has ever said before, but in saying exactly what you think yourself."

"Originality does not consist in saying what no one has ever said before, but in saying exactly what you think yourself."

James Stephens, Irish Poet

Writing, Originality, Saying

14

"I believe that the purpose for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation."

"I believe that the purpose for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation."

Siegfried Sassoon, English Poet

Change, War, Purpose, Negotiation

14

"Art, whose honesty must work through artifice, cannot avoid cheating truth."

"Art, whose honesty must work through artifice, cannot avoid cheating truth."

Adrienne Rich, American Poet

Work, Art, Truth, Honesty

14

"I consider a poem to be a kind of experiment where a number of elements are brought together under test conditions to see how they will interact to create meaning or relevance."

"I consider a poem to be a kind of experiment where a number of elements are brought together under test conditions to see how they will interact to create meaning or relevance."

John Barton, Canadian Poet

14

"It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between."

"It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between."

Diane Ackerman, American Poet

Nation, Country, End, Lies, Mystery

14

"I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day."

"I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day."

Rita Dove, American Poet

14

"Poetry is the art which is technically within the grasp of everyone: a piece of paper and a pencil and one is ready."

"Poetry is the art which is technically within the grasp of everyone: a piece of paper and a pencil and one is ready."

Eugenio Montale, Italian Poet

14

"Why should you want to give up a child's wise not-understanding in exchange for defensiveness and scorn, since not-understanding is, after all, a way of being alone, whereas defensiveness and scorn are a participation in precisely what, by these means, you want to separate yourself from."

"Why should you want to give up a child's wise not-understanding in exchange for defensiveness and scorn, since not-understanding is, after all, a way of being alone, whereas defensiveness and scorn are a participation in precisely what, by these means, you want to separate yourself from."

Rainer Maria Rilke, German Poet

Innocence, Childhood, Understanding, Isolation

14

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month."

Henry Van Dyke, American Poet

Spring, Day, Difference, First

14

"Envy's a coal comes hissing hot from Hell."

"Envy's a coal comes hissing hot from Hell."

Philip James Bailey, English Poet

14

"One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions."

"One wanders to the left, another to the right. Both are equally in error, but, are seduced by different delusions."

Horace, Roman Poet

Uncertainty, Error, Right

14

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