--- title: "13 Poets Read Quotes by 11 authors" description: "Browse 13 Poets Read quotes by 11 authors. Discover the best Poets Read sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/henry-david-thoreau-20_great-poet_the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been_2752222.jpg" --- > [The works of great poets have never been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been-read-by-mankind-for-only/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/henry-david-thoreau-20_great-poet_the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been_2752222.jpg) > [Fiction is in danger of becoming a kind of poetry. Only other poets read it. Only other fiction writers care about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/fiction-is-in-danger-of-becoming-a-kind-of-poetry-only-other-poets/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0f/john-updike-396_becoming_fiction-is-in-danger-of-becoming-a-kind_2521530.png) > [I get a huge energy transfusion from listening to poets read their works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-cavalieri/i-get-a-huge-energy-transfusion-from-listening-to-poets-read-their/) [Grace Cavalieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-cavalieri/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fe/grace-cavalieri-52476_energy_i-get-a-huge-energy-transfusion-from-lis_1338646.jpg) > [The only people who still read poetry are poets, and they mostly read their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-holland/the-only-people-who-still-read-poetry-are-poets-and-they-mostly-read/) [Barbara Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-holland/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a3/barbara-holland-10950_people_the-only-people-who-still-read-poetry-ar_1186980.jpg) > [The works of the great poets have never yet been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never-yet-been-read-by-mankind-for-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e4f/henry-david-thoreau-20_poetry_the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never_2256699.jpg) > [“Wouldn’t it be more important to teach the least powerful? To help them make the most of what they do have? Should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/wouldn-t-it-be-more-important-to-teach-the-least-powerful-to-help/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/rainbow-rowell-135_poetry_wouldn-t-it-be-more-important-to-teach-t_2205492.jpg) > [All poets who, when reading from their own works,m experience a choked feeling, are major. For that matter, all poets who read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/all-poets-who-when-reading-from-their-own-works-m-experience-a-choked/) [E. B. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-b-white/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/e-b-white-1448_choke_all-poets-who-when-reading-from-their-ow_1656188.png) > [I treat myself as one of the sources. And, again, I think that’s accurate. One of the poets I read most frequently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chiasson/i-treat-myself-as-one-of-the-sources-and-again-i-think-that-s/) [Dan Chiasson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-chiasson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/dan-chiasson-33888_poet_i-treat-myself-as-one-of-the-sources-and_165449.png) > [I worked privately, and sometimes I feel that might be better for poets than the kind of social workshop gathering. My school…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-worked-privately-and-sometimes-i-feel-that-might-be-better-for/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/mary-oliver-570_better_i-worked-privately-and-sometimes-i-feel_571566.jpg) > [I don't know if younger poets read a lot of, you know, the poets - the established poets. There was a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adamson/i-don-t-know-if-younger-poets-read-a-lot-of-you-know-the-poets-the/) [Robert Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-adamson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/robert-adamson-42386_add_i-don-t-know-if-younger-poets-read-a-lot_81447.jpg) > [“Is it that important? Wouldn’t it be more important to teach the least powerful? To help them make the most of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/is-it-that-important-wouldn-t-it-be-more-important-to-teach-the-least/) [Rainbow Rowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainbow-rowell/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/rainbow-rowell-135_carry-on_is-it-that-important-wouldn-t-it-be-more_256103.jpg) > [“The works of the great poets have never yet been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them. Most men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thoreau-henry-david/the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never-yet-been-read-by-mankind-for/) [Thoreau Henry David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thoreau-henry-david/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/thoreau-henry-david-58627_books_the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never_1841918.jpg) > [“It is disappointing how people tend not to read a broad range of material. When the poets only read poetry, the historians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-leskov/it-is-disappointing-how-people-tend-not-to-read-a-broad-range-of/) [Anthony Leskov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-leskov/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2b/anthony-leskov-123858_books_it-is-disappointing-how-people-tend-not_330685.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-read/#itemlist", "name": "Poets Read Quotes", "numberOfItems": 13, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The works of great poets have never been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry David Thoreau" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been-read-by-mankind-for-only/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/henry-david-thoreau-20_great-poet_the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been_2752222.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/henry-david-thoreau-20_great-poet_the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been_2752222.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/henry-david-thoreau-20_great-poet_the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been_2752222.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The works of great poets have never been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them.” — Henry David Thoreau", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fiction is in danger of becoming a kind of poetry. 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White" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-b-white/all-poets-who-when-reading-from-their-own-works-m-experience-a-choked/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/e-b-white-1448_choke_all-poets-who-when-reading-from-their-ow_1656188.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/e-b-white-1448_choke_all-poets-who-when-reading-from-their-ow_1656188.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2e/e-b-white-1448_choke_all-poets-who-when-reading-from-their-ow_1656188.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All poets who, when reading from their own works,m experience a choked feeling, are major. For that matter…” — E. B. White", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I treat myself as one of the sources. And, again, I think that’s accurate. One of the poets I read most frequently is myself. I really do. I read my own poems obsessively.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dan Chiasson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-chiasson/i-treat-myself-as-one-of-the-sources-and-again-i-think-that-s/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/dan-chiasson-33888_poet_i-treat-myself-as-one-of-the-sources-and_165449.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/dan-chiasson-33888_poet_i-treat-myself-as-one-of-the-sources-and_165449.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/454/dan-chiasson-33888_poet_i-treat-myself-as-one-of-the-sources-and_165449.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I treat myself as one of the sources. And, again, I think that’s accurate. One of the poets I read most…” — Dan Chiasson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I worked privately, and sometimes I feel that might be better for poets than the kind of social workshop gathering. My school was the great poets: I read, and I read, and I read.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Oliver" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-worked-privately-and-sometimes-i-feel-that-might-be-better-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/mary-oliver-570_better_i-worked-privately-and-sometimes-i-feel_571566.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/mary-oliver-570_better_i-worked-privately-and-sometimes-i-feel_571566.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ba/mary-oliver-570_better_i-worked-privately-and-sometimes-i-feel_571566.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I worked privately, and sometimes I feel that might be better for poets than the kind of social workshop…” — Mary Oliver", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't know if younger poets read a lot of, you know, the poets - the established poets. There was a lot of pretty boring stuff to sort of put up with and to add to, to make something vital from.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Adamson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adamson/i-don-t-know-if-younger-poets-read-a-lot-of-you-know-the-poets-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/robert-adamson-42386_add_i-don-t-know-if-younger-poets-read-a-lot_81447.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/robert-adamson-42386_add_i-don-t-know-if-younger-poets-read-a-lot_81447.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/097/robert-adamson-42386_add_i-don-t-know-if-younger-poets-read-a-lot_81447.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't know if younger poets read a lot of, you know, the poets - the established poets. There was a lot of…” — Robert Adamson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Is it that important? Wouldn’t it be more important to teach the least powerful? To help them make the most of what they do have? Should we teach only poets to read?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rainbow Rowell" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainbow-rowell/is-it-that-important-wouldn-t-it-be-more-important-to-teach-the-least/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/rainbow-rowell-135_carry-on_is-it-that-important-wouldn-t-it-be-more_256103.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/rainbow-rowell-135_carry-on_is-it-that-important-wouldn-t-it-be-more_256103.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/775/rainbow-rowell-135_carry-on_is-it-that-important-wouldn-t-it-be-more_256103.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Is it that important? Wouldn’t it be more important to teach the least powerful? To help them make the most…” — Rainbow Rowell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The works of the great poets have never yet been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them. Most men have learned to read to serve a paltry convenience, as they have learned to cipher in order to keep accounts and not be cheated in trade; but of reading as a noble intellectual exercise they know little or nothing; yet this only is reading, in a high sense, not that which lulls is as a luxury and suffers the nobler faculties to sleep the while, but what we have to stand on tiptoe to read and devote our most alert and wakeful hours to.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thoreau Henry David" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thoreau-henry-david/the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never-yet-been-read-by-mankind-for/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/thoreau-henry-david-58627_books_the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never_1841918.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/thoreau-henry-david-58627_books_the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never_1841918.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/thoreau-henry-david-58627_books_the-works-of-the-great-poets-have-never_1841918.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The works of the great poets have never yet been read by mankind, for only great poets can read them. Most…” — Thoreau Henry David", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It is disappointing how people tend not to read a broad range of material. When the poets only read poetry, the historians only read history, the theorists only read theory, and the philosophers only read philosophy, we experience a clear deficiency in poetry, history, theory, and philosophy. We are far away from Renaissance human beings sculpting themselves to be full and all encompassing in knowledge and life pursuits.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anthony Leskov" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-leskov/it-is-disappointing-how-people-tend-not-to-read-a-broad-range-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2b/anthony-leskov-123858_books_it-is-disappointing-how-people-tend-not_330685.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2b/anthony-leskov-123858_books_it-is-disappointing-how-people-tend-not_330685.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b2b/anthony-leskov-123858_books_it-is-disappointing-how-people-tend-not_330685.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is disappointing how people tend not to read a broad range of material. When the poets only read poetry…” — Anthony Leskov", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-read/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-read/", "name": "Poets Read Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-read/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f4/henry-david-thoreau-20_great-poet_the-works-of-great-poets-have-never-been_2752222.jpg" }, "description": "Browse 13 Poets Read quotes by 11 authors. 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