--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't call myself a poet, because I…" description: "\"I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word.\" — Bob Dylan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/bob-dylan-168_poet_i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don_2545480.jpg" --- # I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word. ![“I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word.” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/bob-dylan-168_poet_i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don_2545480.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/bob-dylan-168_poet_i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don_2545480.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/bob-dylan-168_poet_i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don_2545480.jpg) > “I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word.” [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He rejects the label “poet” because he dislikes the connotations and prefers to avoid being boxed in by titles. **In simple terms:** Doesn’t like being called poet. Key Takeaway Embrace your work without needing a label. Themes identity creativity labels authenticity Mood reflective defiant thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career - public perception - self‑expression - branding Key Concepts self‑definition artistic freedom Questions to Reflect On - How does a label affect your creative freedom? - Do you need external validation? A Different Perspective Labels can limit perception and create expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Trapeze](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trapeze/) [Trapeze artists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trapeze-artists/) ## Related quotes > [The experience of being in between-between the time we leave home and arrive at our destination; between the time we leave adolescence and arrive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tournier/the-experience-of-being-in-between-between-the-time-we-leave-home-and/) [Paul Tournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tournier/) > [The trapeze was my first love. To me, it's normal. It's all I've ever known.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neon-hitch/the-trapeze-was-my-first-love-to-me-it-s-normal-it-s-all-i-ve-ever-2/) [Neon Hitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neon-hitch/) > [ \[My job is\] a very high trapeze act, frequently with no net. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-rather/my-job-is-a-very-high-trapeze-act-frequently-with-no-net/) [Dan Rather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-rather/) > [My friend and coach reminded me this week that there is a moment when the acrobat lets go of one trapeze and is completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/my-friend-and-coach-reminded-me-this-week-that-there-is-a-moment-when/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [She's a shiksa goddess and a trapeze artist, all of that. She can fix the truck...she's outta this world...she's bold, inventive and fearless. 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When you execute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beverly-sills/there-were-times-in-my-career-when-i-felt-like-a-trapeze-artist-doing/) [Beverly Sills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beverly-sills/) > [A circus of stars, your dreams a trapeze, faces lift like mirrored moons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imtiaz-dharker/a-circus-of-stars-your-dreams-a-trapeze-faces-lift-like-mirrored-moons/) Imtiaz Dharker > [“Don’t be a poet, my darling The taxidermist for ideas and lost dreams”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erna-grcic/don-t-be-a-poet-my-darling-the-taxidermist-for-ideas-and-lost-dreams/) Erna Grcic > [One of my secret instructions to myself as a poet is "Whatever you do, don't be boring."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/one-of-my-secret-instructions-to-myself-as-a-poet-is-whatever-you-do/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [You don't necessarily have to write to be a poet. Some people work in gas stations and they're poets. I don't call myself a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-necessarily-have-to-write-to-be-a-poet-some-people-work-in/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [If someone was like, 'Describe yourself in one word,' I would never say, 'Handsome.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-harding/if-someone-was-like-describe-yourself-in-one-word-i-would-never-say/) [Ian Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-harding/) > [I don't like the word 'villain' or 'heavy.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lorre/i-don-t-like-the-word-villain-or-heavy/) [Peter Lorre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lorre/) ## More by Bob Dylan > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More Poet quotes > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [“Without pain, poetry is not possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seerat/without-pain-poetry-is-not-possible/) seerat > [“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/this-spending-of-the-best-part-of-one-s-life-earning-money-in-order/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. 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Even to speculate is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-cousins/the-poet-reminds-men-of-their-uniqueness-and-it-is-not-necessary-to/) [Norman Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-cousins/) > [“The poet is just like the fabled hunter who naps beside a tree, waiting for hares to break their skulls by running headlong into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gu-cheng/the-poet-is-just-like-the-fabled-hunter-who-naps-beside-a-tree/) Gu Cheng > [Drill in exact translation is an excellent way of disposing the mind against that looseness and exaggeration with which the sensationalists have corrupted our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/drill-in-exact-translation-is-an-excellent-way-of-disposing-the-mind/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [“A poet is someone who can pour light into a cup, then raise it to nourish your beautiful parched, holy mouth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hafiz/a-poet-is-someone-who-can-pour-light-into-a-cup-then-raise-it-to/) [Hafiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hafiz/) > [Defeat furnishes good material to the poets and the artists, but none of us care to have the glory of the conquered apply to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/defeat-furnishes-good-material-to-the-poets-and-the-artists-but-none/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [Poetry and preaching do not go well together; when the preacher mounts the pulpit the poet usually goes away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-hamilton/poetry-and-preaching-do-not-go-well-together-when-the-preacher-mounts/) [Edith Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-hamilton/) > [“If you're a poet, you do something beautiful. I mean you're supposed to leave something beautiful after you get off the page and everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/if-you-re-a-poet-you-do-something-beautiful-i-mean-you-re-supposed-to/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-diament/one-of-my-favorite-poets-neruda-writes-close-to-the-bone-though-i/) [Anita Diament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-diament/) > [I've always written. When I was in school, the only teacher who ever liked me was my creative writing teacher. I used to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-townes-earle/i-ve-always-written-when-i-was-in-school-the-only-teacher-who-ever/) [Justin Townes Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-townes-earle/) [Browse all 4,584 Poet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bob Dylan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don-t-like-the-word/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Poet" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don-t-like-the-word/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/bob-dylan-168_poet_i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don_2545480.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/bob-dylan-168_poet_i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don_2545480.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acd/bob-dylan-168_poet_i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don_2545480.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word.” — Bob Dylan", "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": "Bob Dylan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't call myself a poet,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don-t-like-the-word/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-call-myself-a-poet-because-i-don-t-like-the-word/#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 } } ] } ```