Too much is demanded by the critic, attempted by the poet.

When critics are waiting to pounce upon poetic style on exactly the same grounds as if it were prose, the poets tremble.

And yet what is Modernism? It is undefined.

Their free verse was no form at all, yet it made history.

The arts generally have had to recognize Modernism - how should poetry escape?

He can develop sense and style, in the manner of distinguished modern prose, in which event he may be sure that the result will not fall into any objective form.

It is a miracle of harmony, of the adaptation of the free inner life to the outward necessity of things.

For no art and no religion is possible until we make allowances, until we manage to keep quiet the enfant terrible of logic that plays havoc with the other faculties.

Or he can work it out as a metrical and formal exercise, but he will be disappointed in its content. The New Year's prospect fairly chills his daunting breast.

And how can poetry stand up against its new conditions? Its position is perfectly precarious.

Now between the meanings of words and their sounds there is ordinarily no discoverable relation except one of accident; and it is therefore miraculous, to the mystic, when words which make sense can also make a uniform objective structure of accents and rhymes.

But we moderns are impatient and destructive.

Till now poets were privileged to insert a certain proportion of nonsense - very far in excess of one-half of one per cent - into their otherwise sober documents.

Too much is demanded by the critic, attempted by the poet.

Sometimes I worry about the amount of paper I waste.

A novelist writes a novel, and people read it. But reading is a solitary act. While it may elicit a varied and personal response, the communal nature of the audience is like having five hundred people read your novel and respond to it at the same time. I find that thrilling.

Bowling really was a big American sport in the '50s, '60s, and '70s, and then it kind of died off in the '80s.

The universe has a much greater imagination than we do, which is why the real story of the universe is far more interesting than any of the fairy tales we have invented to describe it.

Seriously, I wanted to be an artist because I saw that it meant endless possibilities. I came from a badly managed family background, so art was a way of reinventing myself.

Peace and happiness shall fill your mind deep within, if you act according to truth and self-discipline.

Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, and don't have any kids yourself.

When it comes to my skin, I experiment with a lot of home remedies.

I used to stand on the corner in San Diego with poems sticking out of my hip pocket, asking people if there was a place where I could read poems. The audience is half of the poem.

In any war, the first casualty is common sense, and the second is free and open discussion.

I am a most noteworthy sinner but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvellous Presence.

I spent a ton of time alone. I was raised by a feminist; I had a terrifying father and oppressively scary and mean brothers. We had a farm. The rule was between breakfast and lunch you weren't allowed to make a sound.

I would rather be a security guard than a rock star.

After 'Click, Clack, Moo' was published, I was still practicing law and had no plans to make a career change.

Well, my background is journalism. I don't have any creative-writing experience except for one class I took as a sophomore in college.

A home is a place where a pot of fresh soup simmers gently on the hob, filling the kitchen with soft aromas and filling your heart, and later your tummy, with joy.

You can't drag people from understanding to action. A customer isn't actually at the last mile if you're the one dragging her to the finish line.

I wanted to have more time to play and reflect, but I find retirement more stressful than having a nice, steady job because I have to make decisions about where I want to be.

When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval.

I would like to sing the theme tune of a big film - something like 'Titanic.'

I prospered very quickly. Very quickly, I became politically empowered. I was running my own business.

I was born in the Ottawa General Hospital right after the Gray Cup Football Game in 1939. Six months later, I was backpacked into the Quebec bush. I grew up in and out of the bush, in and out of Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie and Toronto.

My mom worked at McDonald's, and she decided she wanted to make more money, so she got into the management program at McDonald's. And that's how you move up the chain. It's not by demanding that minimum wage is raised; it's by actually acquiring the skills. That's the way that people get ahead in life.

One of the great joys of my job is that you spend a huge amount of time investigating different areas of literature.