---
title: "1 Poems Good Quotes By Michael Longley"
description: "1 Poems Good quotes by Michael Longley. Plus more from Michael Longley and more Poems Good sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c0/michael-longley-26639_difficult_i-work-hard-to-make-the-poems-as-good-as_1307126.jpg"
---

> [I work hard to make the poems as good as they can be, and if they're not good enough I scrap them. I find it difficult after a gap of a few years to tinker - I'm more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-work-hard-to-make-the-poems-as-good-as-they-can-be-and-if-they-re/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c0/michael-longley-26639_difficult_i-work-hard-to-make-the-poems-as-good-as_1307126.jpg)

## More by Michael Longley

> [The gap between verse and poetry is enormous. Between good poetry and good prose the gap is much narrower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/the-gap-between-verse-and-poetry-is-enormous-between-good-poetry-and/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [I would insist that poetry is a normal human activity and its proper concern all the things that happen to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-would-insist-that-poetry-is-a-normal-human-activity-and-its-proper/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [Most poets' revisions are disastrous. They buckle and dent what was originally forged at a red-hot heat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/most-poets-revisions-are-disastrous-they-buckle-and-dent-what-was/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [In America, where you'd have thought the country's so huge it couldn't happen quite so cosily, everyone's giving his imprimatur to everyone else. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/in-america-where-you-d-have-thought-the-country-s-so-huge-it-couldn-t/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [Every Monday morning I try to remember to say "Thank you, Lord. I'm not at the Senior Staff Meeting."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/every-monday-morning-i-try-to-remember-to-say-thank-you-lord-i-m-not/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [I work hard to make the poems as good as they can be, and if they're not good enough I scrap them. I find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-work-hard-to-make-the-poems-as-good-as-they-can-be-and-if-they-re/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [The job has left me with a healthy disregard for what you might call Public Life. I have no desire now to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/the-job-has-left-me-with-a-healthy-disregard-for-what-you-might-call/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [Of course, when a poem is being born, the reasoning part of the brain throbs away at full throttle, but all the other areas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/of-course-when-a-poem-is-being-born-the-reasoning-part-of-the-brain/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [I hardly ever look at my published books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-hardly-ever-look-at-my-published-books/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [I suppose that as you grow older some sense of an accumulating oeuvre is unavoidable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-suppose-that-as-you-grow-older-some-sense-of-an-accumulating-oeuvre/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [For me the form, the stanzaic shape, is an endorsement, proof that I'm engaged with the Latin or Greek at an original level, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/for-me-the-form-the-stanzaic-shape-is-an-endorsement-proof-that-i-m/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [Weddings and funerals have so much in common (except that in Ireland funerals are more fun - better food, better drink): at both, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/weddings-and-funerals-have-so-much-in-common-except-that-in-ireland/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [I'm not the kind of poet who arranges treasure-hunts to please the academics and keep them busy. Poetry should be surprising in deeper ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-m-not-the-kind-of-poet-who-arranges-treasure-hunts-to-please-the/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [I don't know where the shape of a poem comes from. I certainly don't impose it. I write out of a jumble of emotions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/i-don-t-know-where-the-shape-of-a-poem-comes-from-i-certainly-don-t/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

> [A good poem is not completely a poem until it has received a critical response that grows out of the poem in an almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-longley/a-good-poem-is-not-completely-a-poem-until-it-has-received-a-critical/)

[Michael Longley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-longley/)

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