All Stephen Spender Quotes
- When a child, my dreams rode on your wishes, I was your son, high on your horse, My mind a top whipped by the lashes… Child
- The greatest poets are those with memories so great that they extend beyond their strongest experiences to their minutest observations of people and things far… Beyond
- I'm struggling at the end to get out of the valley of hectoring youth, journalistic middle age, imposture, moneymaking, public relations, bad writing, mental confusion. Age
- I think continually of those who were truly great...Born of the sun they traveled a short while towards the sun, and left the vivid air… Air
- Paul Valery speaks of the 'une ligne donnee' of a poem. One line is given to the poet by God or by nature, the rest… Discover
- Although Poets are vain and ambitious, their vanity and ambition are of the purest kind attainable in this world. They are ambitious to be accepted… Accepted
- There is a certain justice in criticism. The critic is like a midwife — a tyrannical midwife. Certain
- The greatest of all human delusions is that there is a tangible goal, and not just direction towards an ideal aim. The idea that a… Able
- I think continually of those who were truly great. Continually
- I think of those who were truly great. The names of those who in their lives fought for life, Who wore at their hearts the… Center
- So i learned both to accept myself and to aim beyond myself Accept
- If Rilke cut himself shaving, he would bleed poetry. Bleed
- If you get to a certain age, all people want to know about you is people you knew. ...An American student once said to me,… Age
- History is the ship carrying living memories to the future. Carrying
- Memory exercised in a particular way is a natural gift of poetic genius. The poet above all else, is a person who never forgets certain… All
- Religion stands, the Church blocking the sun. Block
- When I saw photographs of children murdered by the Fascist, I felt furious pity. When the supporters of Franco talked of Red atrocities, I merely… Acquired
- The only true hope for civilization-the conviction of the individual that his inner life can affect outward events and that, whether or not he does… Affect
- Bright clasp of her whole hand around my finger My daughter as we walk together now. All my life I'll feel a ring invisibly Circle… All
- When you read and understand a poem, comprehending its rich and formal meanings, then you master chaos a little. Applause