--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now I would say at any given moment in…" description: "\"Now I would say at any given moment in American life, there are probably 45 poets in airplanes vectoring across the country heading towards...I don't k..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df4/billy-collins-3004_airplane_now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-a_1913869.png" --- # Now I would say at any given moment in American life… ![“Now I would say at any given moment in American life, there are probably 45 poets in airplanes vectoring across the country heading towards...I don't know if anyone's reading it, but poets are still flying around the country going from lectern to lectern.That circuitry has become very…” quote by Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df4/billy-collins-3004_airplane_now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-a_1913869.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df4/billy-collins-3004_airplane_now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-a_1913869.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df4/billy-collins-3004_airplane_now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-a_1913869.png) > “Now I would say at any given moment in American life, there are probably 45 poets in airplanes vectoring across the country heading towards...I don't know if anyone's reading it, but poets are still flying around the country going from lectern to lectern.That circuitry has become very well-established.” [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poets continue to travel and share work despite uncertain audiences. **In simple terms:** Poets still fly and speak. Key Takeaway Persist in sharing art. Themes creativity travel resilience Mood contemplative inspirational Type literary motivational When to use this quote - book tours - literary festivals - academic lectures - online readings Key Concepts artistic dissemination cultural persistence Questions to Reflect On - Why do artists keep creating without guaranteed listeners? - How does travel influence poetic voice? A Different Perspective Audience engagement may be minimal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I started moving away from poets like Wallace Stevens and Hart Crane and started reading poets like, again, Karl Shapiro, Howard Nemerov, Philip Larkin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-started-moving-away-from-poets-like-wallace-stevens-and-hart-crane/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [If we were in the habit of reading poets their obscurity would not matter; and, once we are out of the habit, their clarity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-jarrell/if-we-were-in-the-habit-of-reading-poets-their-obscurity-would-not/) [Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-jarrell/) > [I do believe that one's writing life needs to be kept separate from Po-Biz. 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You're going to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/something-like-this-will-test-you-like-nothing-else-mac-said-you-re/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [We make a lot of detours, but we're always heading for the same destination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-make-a-lot-of-detours-but-we-re-always-heading-for-the-same/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I have a dress fitting to get to at three.' 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You're actually saying things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-think-clarity-is-the-real-risk-in-poetry-because-you-are-exposed/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [...pleasure, of course, is a slippery word… Our pleasures ultimately belong to us, not to the pleasure's so](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/pleasure-of-course-is-a-slippery-word-our-pleasures-ultimately-belong/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [I stared up at the ebbing quarter moon and the stars scattered like a handful of salt across the faraway sky...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/i-stared-up-at-the-ebbing-quarter-moon-and-the-stars-scattered-like-a/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [Death is what makes life fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/death-is-what-makes-life-fun/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [A trouble with poetry is the presence of presumptuousness in poetry, the sense you get in a poem that the poet takes for granted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/a-trouble-with-poetry-is-the-presence-of-presumptuousness-in-poetry/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) > [You come by your style by learning what to leave out. 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There are certainly very difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/some-difficulty-is-warranted-and-other-difficulty-i-think-is/) [Billy Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) [Explore all 141 Billy Collins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/) ## More Airplane quotes > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [I shoot in black and white, sometimes color, sometimes if it looks good I shoot out the window of the airplanes or whatever, anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-shoot-in-black-and-white-sometimes-color-sometimes-if-it-looks-good/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [I've jumped out of an airplane 34 times. I've dove 212 feet under water. I've done a lot of things that defied death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/i-ve-jumped-out-of-an-airplane-34-times-i-ve-dove-212-feet-under/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [I believe that anyone who flies in an airplane and doesn't spend most of his time looking out the window wastes his money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-reisner/i-believe-that-anyone-who-flies-in-an-airplane-and-doesn-t-spend-most/) [Marc Reisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-reisner/) > [We live in a world where it has become politically correct to avoid absolutes. 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Then Travolta said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/john-travolta-said-he-sometimes-lets-his-friends-take-control-of-his/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) Browse all 935 Airplane quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Now I would say at any given moment in American life, there are probably 45 poets in airplanes vectoring across the country heading towards...I don't know if anyone's reading it, but poets are still flying around the country going from lectern to lectern.That circuitry has become very well-established.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Billy Collins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-american-life-there-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Airplane" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-american-life-there-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df4/billy-collins-3004_airplane_now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-a_1913869.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df4/billy-collins-3004_airplane_now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-a_1913869.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df4/billy-collins-3004_airplane_now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-a_1913869.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Now I would say at any given moment in American life, there are probably 45 poets in airplanes vectoring…” — Billy Collins", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Billy Collins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-collins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Now I would say at any...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-american-life-there-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-collins/now-i-would-say-at-any-given-moment-in-american-life-there-are/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```