If Galileo had said in verse that the world moved, the inquisition might have let him alone. Thomas Hardy on poetry
Children and lunatics cut the Gordian knot which the poet spends his life patiently trying to untie. Jean Cocteau on poetry
There is poetry as soon as we realize that we possess nothing. John Cage on poetry
If you cannot be a poet, be the poem. David Carradine on poetry
A poet's autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote. Yevgeny Yevtushenko on poetry
Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words. Paul Engle on poetry
A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman. Wallace Stevens on poetry
The poet is a liar who always speaks the truth. Jean Cocteau on poetry
No poem is easily grasped so why should any reader expect fast results? John Barton on poetry
Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry. Muriel Rukeyser on poetry
Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may be inadvisable to draw it out... Perfect understanding will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure. A. E. Housman on poetry