--- title: "10 Anne Sexton Quotes by 10 authors" description: "Browse 10 Anne Sexton quotes by 10 authors. Discover the best Anne Sexton sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/joni-mitchell-1160_augustine_augustine-anne-sexton-and-sylvia-plath-a_2692902.png" --- > [Augustine, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath are confessional writers and all three make me sick. I have nothing in common with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/augustine-anne-sexton-and-sylvia-plath-are-confessional-writers-and/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/joni-mitchell-1160_augustine_augustine-anne-sexton-and-sylvia-plath-a_2692902.png) > [“Anne Sexton knows the mind, Walt Whitman knows grass, but Emily Dickinson knows everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/anne-sexton-knows-the-mind-walt-whitman-knows-grass-but-emily/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c35/matt-haig-1036_knowledge_anne-sexton-knows-the-mind-walt-whitman_1977893.jpg) > [“ONE CAN'T BUILD LITTLE WHITE PICKET FENCES TO KEEP NIGHTMARES OUT. -Anne Sexton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-mccreight/one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fences-to-keep-nightmares-out-2/) [Kimberly McCreight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-mccreight/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/432/kimberly-mccreight-29809_dream_one-can-t-build-little-white-picket-fenc_2296773.jpg) > [I love Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. I also love more cerebral poets like H.D. and Emily Dickinson. My parents subscribed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/i-love-sylvia-plath-and-anne-sexton-i-also-love-more-cerebral-poets/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/francesca-lia-block-1363_cerebral_i-love-sylvia-plath-and-anne-sexton-i-al_560305.jpg) > [“It was not uncommon to walk in the door of their home and find my mother sitting on the sofa reading over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/it-was-not-uncommon-to-walk-in-the-door-of-their-home-and-find-my/) [Augusten Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusten-burroughs/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/augusten-burroughs-603_mother_it-was-not-uncommon-to-walk-in-the-door_1941350.jpg) > [¢ Your silence has been with me and I have let it have its say. I feel, as always, the same closeness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroha-janet/your-silence-has-been-with-me-and-i-have-let-it-have-its-say-i-feel/) [Aroha Janet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aroha-janet/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/aroha-janet-10614_actions-speak-louder_your-silence-has-been-with-me-and-i-have_952448.jpg) > [I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the writer as prizefighter and I have tried hard to create an alternate one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-paradigm-of-the-writer-as/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg) > [I definitely notice the absence of character in most poetry, which is not so say that I'm an innovator in that regard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-mccrae/i-definitely-notice-the-absence-of-character-in-most-poetry-which-is/) [Shane McCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-mccrae/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/shane-mccrae-22873_absence_i-definitely-notice-the-absence-of-chara_576319.jpg) > [I shared a bed with my sister, Grace, until I was seventeen years old. She was afraid to sleep alone and would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/i-shared-a-bed-with-my-sister-grace-until-i-was-seventeen-years-old/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/lena-dunham-1013_asking_i-shared-a-bed-with-my-sister-grace-unti_2264904.jpg) > [“Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. Death always remains interesting, pulls us, draws us. As sleep is necessary to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entire-attention-death-always-2/) [Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_3004231.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-sexton/#itemlist", "name": "Anne Sexton Quotes", "numberOfItems": 10, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Augustine, Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath are confessional writers and all three make me sick. 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I also love more cerebral poets like H.D. and Emily Dickinson. My parents subscribed to a monthly poetry periodical, and as a teenager I was introduced to Denise Levertov, who was an influence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Francesca Lia Block" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/i-love-sylvia-plath-and-anne-sexton-i-also-love-more-cerebral-poets/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/francesca-lia-block-1363_cerebral_i-love-sylvia-plath-and-anne-sexton-i-al_560305.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/francesca-lia-block-1363_cerebral_i-love-sylvia-plath-and-anne-sexton-i-al_560305.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/francesca-lia-block-1363_cerebral_i-love-sylvia-plath-and-anne-sexton-i-al_560305.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I love Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. I also love more cerebral poets like H.D. and Emily Dickinson. 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A woman who writes feels too much... ”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Augusten Burroughs" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusten-burroughs/it-was-not-uncommon-to-walk-in-the-door-of-their-home-and-find-my/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/augusten-burroughs-603_mother_it-was-not-uncommon-to-walk-in-the-door_1941350.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/augusten-burroughs-603_mother_it-was-not-uncommon-to-walk-in-the-door_1941350.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67a/augusten-burroughs-603_mother_it-was-not-uncommon-to-walk-in-the-door_1941350.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was not uncommon to walk in the door of their home and find my mother sitting on the sofa reading over a…” — Augusten Burroughs", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "¢ Your silence has been with me and I have let it have its say. I feel, as always, the same closeness to you which your silence makes into a kind of speech of its own. Anne Sexton", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Aroha Janet" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aroha-janet/your-silence-has-been-with-me-and-i-have-let-it-have-its-say-i-feel/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/aroha-janet-10614_actions-speak-louder_your-silence-has-been-with-me-and-i-have_952448.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/aroha-janet-10614_actions-speak-louder_your-silence-has-been-with-me-and-i-have_952448.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/aroha-janet-10614_actions-speak-louder_your-silence-has-been-with-me-and-i-have_952448.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“¢ Your silence has been with me and I have let it have its say. I feel, as always, the same closeness to you…” — Aroha Janet", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the writer as prizefighter and I have tried hard to create an alternate one for myself. When Anne Sexton admonished me, \"We are all writing God's poem,\" I took it to mean there should be no competition between writers because we are all involved in a common project, a common prayer. But to Gore's and Norman's generation, particularly those male writers who served in the second world war, the prizefighter paradigm remains.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Erica Jong" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-paradigm-of-the-writer-as/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a5/erica-jong-445_common_i-myself-hate-that-old-hemingwayesque-pa_1975134.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I myself hate that old Hemingwayesque paradigm of the writer as prizefighter and I have tried hard to create…” — Erica Jong", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I definitely notice the absence of character in most poetry, which is not so say that I'm an innovator in that regard. Character-based poems are not weird or new by any stretch but they feel strange and new because the atmosphere is one in which no one does that. People always talk about, and with good reason, poetry's unpopularity. When people say that they forget or they brush aside the fact that in the middle part of the last century poetry was immensely popular. Dylan Thomas was basically a rock star; so was Anne Sexton.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shane McCrae" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-mccrae/i-definitely-notice-the-absence-of-character-in-most-poetry-which-is/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/shane-mccrae-22873_absence_i-definitely-notice-the-absence-of-chara_576319.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/shane-mccrae-22873_absence_i-definitely-notice-the-absence-of-chara_576319.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b77/shane-mccrae-22873_absence_i-definitely-notice-the-absence-of-chara_576319.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I definitely notice the absence of character in most poetry, which is not so say that I'm an innovator in…” — Shane McCrae", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I shared a bed with my sister, Grace, until I was seventeen years old. She was afraid to sleep alone and would begin asking me around 5:00 P.M. every day whether she could sleep with me. I put on a big show of saying no, taking pleasure in watching her beg and sulk, but eventually I always relented. Her sticky, muscly little body thrashed beside me every night as I read Anne Sexton, watched reruns of SNL, sometimes even as I slipped my hand into my underwear to figure some stuff out.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lena Dunham" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/i-shared-a-bed-with-my-sister-grace-until-i-was-seventeen-years-old/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/lena-dunham-1013_asking_i-shared-a-bed-with-my-sister-grace-unti_2264904.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/lena-dunham-1013_asking_i-shared-a-bed-with-my-sister-grace-unti_2264904.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/lena-dunham-1013_asking_i-shared-a-bed-with-my-sister-grace-unti_2264904.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I shared a bed with my sister, Grace, until I was seventeen years old. She was afraid to sleep alone and…” — Lena Dunham", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. Death always remains interesting, pulls us, draws us. As sleep is necessary to our physiology, so depression seems necessary to our psychic economy. In some secret way, Thanatos nourishes Eros as well as opposes it. The two principles work in covert concert; though in most of us Eros dominates, in none of us is Thanatos completely subdued. However-and this is the paradox of suicide-to take one's life is to behave in a more active, assertive, \"erotic\" way than to helplessly watch as one's life is taken away from one by inevitable mortality. Suicide thus engages with both the death-hating and the death-loving parts of us: on some level, perhaps, we may envy the suicide even as we pity him. It has frequently been asked whether the poetry of Plath would have so aroused the attention of the world if Plath had not killed herself. I would agree with those who say no. The death-ridden poems move us and electrify us because of our knowledge of what happened. Alvarez has observed that the late poems read as if they were written posthumously, but they do so only because a death actually took place. \"When I am talking about the weather / I know what I am talking about,\" Kurt Schwitters writes in a Dada poem (which I have quoted in its entirety). When Plath is talking about the death wish, she knows what she is talking about. In 1966, Anne Sexton, who committed suicide eleven years after Plath, wrote a poem entitled \"Wanting to Die,\" in which these startlingly informative lines appear: But suicides have a special language. Like carpenters they want to know which tools. They never ask why build. When, in the opening of \"Lady Lazarus,\" Plath triumphantly exclaims, \"I have done it again,\" and, later in the poem, writes, Dying Is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I've a call, we can only share her elation. We know we are in the presence of a master builder.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Janet Malcolm" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entire-attention-death-always-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_3004231.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_3004231.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e04/janet-malcolm-10933_death_life-of-course-never-gets-anyone-s-entir_3004231.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life, of course, never gets anyone's entire attention. Death always remains interesting, pulls us, draws us…” — Janet Malcolm", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-sexton/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-sexton/", "name": "Anne Sexton Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anne-sexton/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/joni-mitchell-1160_augustine_augustine-anne-sexton-and-sylvia-plath-a_2692902.png" }, "description": "Browse 10 Anne Sexton quotes by 10 authors. 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