All John Berryman Quotes
- We must travel in the direction of our fear. Direction
- The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business. Actually Kill
- Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and yearn, and moreover… All
- So if I were talking to a young writer, I would recommend the cultivation of extreme indifference to both praise and blame because praise will… Bad
- Offering Dragons quarter is no good, they regrow all their parts and come on again. They have to be killed. All
- Literature bores me, especially great literature Bores
- Wishin' was dyin' but I gotta make it all this way to that bed on these feet. All
- We are using our own skins for wallpaper and we cannot win. Cannot Win
- One must be ruthless with one's own writing or someone else will be. Funny
- Praise will lead you to vanity, and blame will lead you to self-pity, and both are bad for writers. Bad
- Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. Boring
- This world is gradually becoming a place Where I do not care to be any more. Any
- Bats have no bankers and they do not drink and cannot be arrested and pay no tax and, in general, bats have it made. Arrested
- I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats. Like Yeats
- I am so wise I had my mouth sewn shut. Inspirational
- Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and yearn All
- You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to… Achieve
- Them lady poets must not marry, pal. Inspirational
- I cry. Evil dissolves, and love, like foam; that love. Prattle of children powers me home, my heart claps like the swan’s under a frenzy… Children
- We have reason to be afraid. This is a terrible place. Afraid
- I conclude now I have no inner resources, because I am heavy bored. Peoples bore me, literature bores me, especially great literature, Bore
- Two daiquiris withdrew into a corner of a gorgeous room and one told the other a lie. Corner
- I do strongly feel that among the greatest pieces of luck for high achievement is ordeal. Certain great artists can make out without it, Titian… Achievement
- something has been said for sobriety but very little. Been
- There is no such thing as Freedom (though it is the most important condition of human life, after Humility, -which does not exist either). There… Ability