I try to be specific. One thought at a time. Clear. Articulate. And above all, memorable, if you can be. You'd like… — Clive James Copy Share Image
Pound had argued - and Eliot had helped him prove - that a poem could be sustained by memorable moments. Olson proved… — Clive James Copy Share Image
“Rilke used to say that no poet would mind going to gaol, since he would at least have time to explore the… — Clive James Copy Share Image
I think the great trick of doing my sort of thing is to learn to use your downtime, and of course in… — Clive James Copy Share Image
Even in moments of tranquility, Murray Walker sounds like a man whose trousers are on fire. — Clive James Copy Share Image
This quality becomes important at a time when almost everyone is a poet. And as I said, we live in an age… — Clive James Copy Share Image
I've got life for a subject because as life starts to drain away, you start seeing very clearly what life is, for… — Clive James Copy Share Image
Young men especially - I don't know if young women feel much the same - but young men think they are immortal,… — Clive James Copy Share Image
One of the virtues of the NHS... it doesn't worry you about money at the moment when you're least capable of doing… — Clive James Copy Share Image
My wife spoke perfect Italian and she was very beautiful and very suave Italian men were crowding around her, talking all the time and… — Clive James Copy Share Image
The streets, at least in this part of town, seemed impossibly clean in comparison to London. The public telephones were unvandalised. For a London… — Clive James Copy Share Image
In London there was no home cooking worthy of the name. When you were in funds you ate out. But only the people whose… — Clive James Copy Share Image
Generally it is our failures that civilize us. Triumph confirms us in our habits. — Clive James Copy Share Image
I try to be specific. One thought at a time. Clear. Articulate. And above all, memorable, if you can be. You'd like to write… — Clive James Copy Share Image
Pound had argued - and Eliot had helped him prove - that a poem could be sustained by memorable moments. Olson proved that it… — Clive James Copy Share Image
One way or another, all the poets of the thirties and forties reacted to Auden, either by rejecting him or trying to absorb him. — Clive James Copy Share Image
Little books are the things to write at my age, I've decided. Avoid the big ones, go for the little ones. — Clive James Copy Share Image
“Too many of my friends are dead, and others wrecked By various diseases of the intellect Or failing body. How am I still upright?… — clive james Copy Share Image
