Criticism is prejudice made plausible.
—H. L. Mencken, 1919
No degree of dullness can safeguard a work against the determination of critics to find it
fascinating.
—Harold Rosenberg, 1959
The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good - in spite of all the
people who say he is very good.
—Robert Graves, 1964
Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the
opinions of others.
—Virginia Woolf, 1929
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: try to
please everyone.
—Herbert Bayard Swope, 1950
Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit
everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it.
—Jesse Stuart, 1949
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
—Cyril Connolly, 1933
***
I would define, in brief, the Poetry of words as The Rhythmical Creation of Beauty.
—Edgar Allan Poe, 1850
Poetry is to prose as dancing to walking.
—John Wain, 1976
Writing free poetry is like playing tennis with the net down.
—Robert Frost, 1935
One possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our
intellectuals can't read any poetry.
—Randall Jarrell, 1953
Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and
waiting for an echo.
—Don Marquis, 1962
106
On Writing, Literature, Poetry, and Journalism
—H. L. Mencken, 1919
No degree of dullness can safeguard a work against the determination of critics to find it
fascinating.
—Harold Rosenberg, 1959
The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good - in spite of all the
people who say he is very good.
—Robert Graves, 1964
Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the
opinions of others.
—Virginia Woolf, 1929
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: try to
please everyone.
—Herbert Bayard Swope, 1950
Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit
everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it.
—Jesse Stuart, 1949
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
—Cyril Connolly, 1933
***
I would define, in brief, the Poetry of words as The Rhythmical Creation of Beauty.
—Edgar Allan Poe, 1850
Poetry is to prose as dancing to walking.
—John Wain, 1976
Writing free poetry is like playing tennis with the net down.
—Robert Frost, 1935
One possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our
intellectuals can't read any poetry.
—Randall Jarrell, 1953
Publishing a volume of verse is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and
waiting for an echo.
—Don Marquis, 1962
106
On Writing, Literature, Poetry, and Journalism