"A good poem is a tautology. It expands……" — Alasdair Gray

"A good poem is a tautology. It expands one word by adding a number which clarify it, thus making a new word which has never before been spoken. The seedword is always so ordinary that hardly anyone perceives it. Classical odes grow from and or because, romantic lyrics from but and if. Immature verses expand a personal pronoun ad nauseam, the greatest works bring glory to a common verb. Good poems, therefore, are always close to banality, over which, however, they tower like precipices."

— Alasdair Gray

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17 Quotes by Alasdair Gray

Alasdair Gray has 17 quotes on this site. A few more worth reading:

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