---
title: "1 Writing Writer Quotes By Stephen Dunn"
description: "1 Writing Writer quotes by Stephen Dunn. Plus more from Stephen Dunn and more Writing Writer sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5f/stephen-dunn-15620_achieve_perhaps-basketball-and-poetry-have-just_794639.png"
---

> [Perhaps basketball and poetry have just a few things in common, but the most important is the possibility of transcendence. The opposite is labor. In writing, every writer knows when he or she is laboring to achieve an effect. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/perhaps-basketball-and-poetry-have-just-a-few-things-in-common-but/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5f/stephen-dunn-15620_achieve_perhaps-basketball-and-poetry-have-just_794639.png)

## More by Stephen Dunn

> [“He held her like a new woman and what she felt felt almost as good as love had, and each of them called it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/he-held-her-like-a-new-woman-and-what-she-felt-felt-almost-as-good-as/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [I will try to disappoint you better than anyone ever has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/i-will-try-to-disappoint-you-better-than-anyone-ever-has/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [If the motive of writing is for some people a kind of exercise in dirty laundry, that's one thing. I've always thought of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/if-the-motive-of-writing-is-for-some-people-a-kind-of-exercise-in/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [The world is always somewhat vicious. I take that as a given, but at various times in various circumstances that fact will be no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/the-world-is-always-somewhat-vicious-i-take-that-as-a-given-but-at/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [A good many of my poems over the years have alluded to or taken on the political. Stevens has a line in one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/a-good-many-of-my-poems-over-the-years-have-alluded-to-or-taken-on/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [What feeling feels like over time. An attempt to screw up what feeling feels like over time. Heartbreak and a high C… The often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/what-feeling-feels-like-over-time-an-attempt-to-screw-up-what-feeling/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [“God knows nothing we don't know. We gave him every word he ever said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/god-knows-nothing-we-don-t-know-we-gave-him-every-word-he-ever-said/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [A moment of something between acceptance and resignation of one's smallness in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/a-moment-of-something-between-acceptance-and-resignation-of-one-s/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [“That time I thought I was in love and calmly said so was not much different from the time I was truly in love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/that-time-i-thought-i-was-in-love-and-calmly-said-so-was-not-much/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [“I'll say I love you, Which will lead, of course, to disappointment, but those words unsaid poison every next moment. I will try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/i-ll-say-i-love-you-which-will-lead-of-course-to-disappointment-but/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [Perhaps basketball and poetry have just a few things in common, but the most important is the possibility of transcendence. The opposite is labor.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/perhaps-basketball-and-poetry-have-just-a-few-things-in-common-but/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [There's a certain pleasure in violating the strictures of your education. The trick is, if you're going to explore ideas in a poem, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/there-s-a-certain-pleasure-in-violating-the-strictures-of-your/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [“He didn’t want to be this thin man whose desires were barely covered by skin, standing absolutely still. But everytime he moved there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/he-didn-t-want-to-be-this-thin-man-whose-desires-were-barely-covered/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [Bring to me, it said, continual proof / you've been alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/bring-to-me-it-said-continual-proof-you-ve-been-alive/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

> [Connubial Because with alarming accuracy she’d been identifying patterns I was unaware of—this tic, that tendency, like the way I've mastered the language of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-dunn/connubial-because-with-alarming-accuracy-she-d-been-identifying/)

[Stephen Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-dunn/)

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