I hate the anglicanisation of culture, the idea that culture is genteel. It's not genteel. — Tony Harrison Culture Copy Share Image
I was well read and knew languages, but I didn't want to become Ezra Pound. I wanted to write poetry that people… — Tony Harrison Copy Share Image
I think that, as you get older, you want to be freer rather than more bound. — Tony Harrison Copy Share Image
A poem, once it's written, is meant to be read with the inner voice of the person who reads it. — Tony Harrison Inner voice Copy Share Image
Honours seem to be the nature of British life. It's horrible. Maybe I'm mad, but the older I get, the less I… — Tony Harrison British Copy Share Image
I love being on the road with others, with a camera, but also being alone writing poetry. — Tony Harrison Alone Copy Share Image
I was brought up on music hall, and at the same time, I was studying Greek at the age of 12. — Tony Harrison Age Copy Share Image
I think it's the tendency to want to create gods and monotheistic absolutes and absolute certainties that is the continual temptation in… — Tony Harrison God Copy Share Image
There's a kind of despair about whether art can really do anything, but you have to incorporate that despair into the way… — Tony Harrison Art Copy Share Image
A lot of my activity in the theatre, and even in writing poems, was a kind of retrospective aggro on the English… — Tony Harrison English teacher Copy Share Image
Statues are one of the ways I try to test the traditions of European culture against the most modern destructive forces. I… — Tony Harrison Culture Copy Share Image
I used to be scared of the Candyman. You'd say his name three times in the mirror and then he'd come get… — Tony Harrison Copy Share Image
“Smokers of the world unite! On t'count o' three, all light up, right? 1-2-3... You've all been cowed. I've changed the law… — Tony Harrison Smokers Copy Share Image
One of the important things about familiar form and metricality is that it draws attention to the physical nature of language: the… — Tony Harrison Copy Share Image
I wanted to learn Latin and Greek and become a poet and acquire power over language. I only understand this clearly in… — Tony Harrison Education Copy Share Image
Looking back, fire images have been constant in my poetry. As a boy, it was my job to light the fire each… — Tony Harrison Fire Copy Share Image
I always like to be somebody scary. When I was little, my mom used to make our costumes. She's really creative and… — Tony Harrison Costumes Copy Share Image
The first thing you see in my hallway is a large 18th-century bust of Milton, who stares at me as I watch… — Tony Harrison Blind Copy Share Image
I often find myself quoting from Victor Hugo after one of my theatrical ventures. 'Now that my play is a failure,' he… — Tony Harrison Failure Copy Share Image
“Poetry's the speech of kings. You're one of those Shakespeare gives the comic bits to: prose! All poetry (even Cockney Keats?) you… — Tony Harrison Communication Copy Share Image
![“Poetry's the speech of kings. You're one of those Shakespeare gives the comic bits to: prose! All poetry (even Cockney Keats?) you see 's been dubbed by [Us] into RP, Received Pronunciation, please believe [Us] your speech is in the hands of the Receivers.” quote by Tony Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85f/tony-harrison-11449_communication_poetry-s-the-speech-of-kings-you-re-one_2680169.jpg)