---
title: "1 Street Poets Quotes By Lawrence Ferlinghetti"
description: "1 Street Poets quotes by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Plus more from Lawrence Ferlinghetti and more Street Poets sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/lawrence-ferlinghetti-7689_poetry_the-best-writing-is-what-s-right-in-fron_1559615.jpg"
---

> [“The best writing is what's right in front of you. Sometimes I'd walk down the street with poets and they wouldn't see anything. I'd have to shake their arm and say, 'Look! Look!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/the-best-writing-is-what-s-right-in-front-of-you-sometimes-i-d-walk/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/869/lawrence-ferlinghetti-7689_poetry_the-best-writing-is-what-s-right-in-fron_1559615.jpg)

## More by Lawrence Ferlinghetti

> [“I am waiting for the meek to be blessed and inherit the earth... without taxes”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/i-am-waiting-for-the-meek-to-be-blessed-and-inherit-the-earth-without/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [We have to raise the consciousness; the only way poets can change the world is to raise the consciousness of the general populace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/we-have-to-raise-the-consciousness-the-only-way-poets-can-change-the/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [I didn’t know that painters and writers retired. They’re like soldiers – they just fade away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/i-didn-t-know-that-painters-and-writers-retired-they-re-like-soldiers/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [I certainly was surprised to be named Poet Laureate of this far-out city on the left side of the world, and I gratefully accept,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/i-certainly-was-surprised-to-be-named-poet-laureate-of-this-far-out/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [Paperbacks weren't considered real books in the book trade. Up till then it was just murder mysteries, potboilers, 25-cent pocket books sold in newsstands.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/paperbacks-weren-t-considered-real-books-in-the-book-trade-up-till/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/poetry-is-the-shadow-cast-by-our-streetlight-imaginations/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [The real literary editors have mostly been fired. Those that remain are all ottom line editors; everything depends on the money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/the-real-literary-editors-have-mostly-been-fired-those-that-remain/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [“Cast up the heart flops over gasping 'Love' a foolish fish which tries to draw its breath from flesh of air And no one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/cast-up-the-heart-flops-over-gasping-love-a-foolish-fish-which-tries/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [The paintings may communicate even better because people are lazy and they can look at a painting with less effort than they can read…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/the-paintings-may-communicate-even-better-because-people-are-lazy-and/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [Poetry can change the world, just like any art can change the world, by changing consciousness. Of course this was the great slogan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/poetry-can-change-the-world-just-like-any-art-can-change-the-world-by/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [As I get older I perceive Life has its tail in its mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/as-i-get-older-i-perceive-life-has-its-tail-in-its-mouth/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [Almost every truly creative being alienated & expatriated in his own country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/almost-every-truly-creative-being-alienated-expatriated-in-his-own/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [The future of publishing lies with the small and medium-sized presses, because the big publishers in New York are all part of huge conglomerates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/the-future-of-publishing-lies-with-the-small-and-medium-sized-presses/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [The art has to make it on its own, without explanations, and it’s the same for poetry. If the poem or the painting has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/the-art-has-to-make-it-on-its-own-without-explanations-and-it-s-the/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

> [There is an ecstatic mechanism in birds that makes them fly upwards in spite of worms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-ferlinghetti/there-is-an-ecstatic-mechanism-in-birds-that-makes-them-fly-upwards/)

[Lawrence Ferlinghetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-ferlinghetti/)

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