--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As I look over my work, I mean every time…" description: "\"As I look over my work, I mean every time I look over my early work, I see, yes, I could do that then and then I could do that and that... That may be ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9c/kenneth-koch-13952_early-work_as-i-look-over-my-work-i-mean-every-time_1392443.png" --- # As I look over my work, I mean every time I look over my… ![“As I look over my work, I mean every time I look over my early work, I see, yes, I could do that then and then I could do that and that... That may be the hardest thing for a writer, at least for a poet, to tell what the identity of his work is.” quote by Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9c/kenneth-koch-13952_early-work_as-i-look-over-my-work-i-mean-every-time_1392443.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9c/kenneth-koch-13952_early-work_as-i-look-over-my-work-i-mean-every-time_1392443.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9c/kenneth-koch-13952_early-work_as-i-look-over-my-work-i-mean-every-time_1392443.png) > “As I look over my work, I mean every time I look over my early work, I see, yes, I could do that then and then I could do that and that... That may be the hardest thing for a writer, at least for a poet, to tell what the identity of his work is.” [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writers often struggle to define the identity of their evolving work, seeing past pieces as both foundation and constraint. **In simple terms:** Identifying a writer’s evolving style is hard. Key Takeaway Embrace growth, don’t be confined by past work. Themes creativity identity self‑reflection Mood introspective thoughtful Type reflective analytical When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal journals - literary criticism Key Concepts literary evolution authorial voice Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance learning from past work with creating new identity? - What defines the “identity” of a poet’s oeuvre? A Different Perspective Past work can limit future innovation if over‑analyzed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Early work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-work/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Here in the United States, we speak with reverence of authentic experience. We write poems about our daddies taking us fishing and breaking our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-simic/here-in-the-united-states-we-speak-with-reverence-of-authentic/) [Charles Simic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-simic/) > [There is this tendency to think that if you could only find the magic way, then you could become a poet. "Tell me how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/there-is-this-tendency-to-think-that-if-you-could-only-find-the-magic/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [A writer, or at least a poet, is always being asked by people who should know better: “Whom do you write for?” The question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-writer-or-at-least-a-poet-is-always-being-asked-by-people-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What a writer can do, what a fiction writer or a poet or an essay writer can do is re-engage people with their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/what-a-writer-can-do-what-a-fiction-writer-or-a-poet-or-an-essay/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [That choice to be ready to reject all other purposes, in favor of the possibilities of language freed from utility, is when the writer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/that-choice-to-be-ready-to-reject-all-other-purposes-in-favor-of-the/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [We want to be famous as a writer, as a poet, as a painter, as a politician, as a singer, or what you will.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-crews/we-want-to-be-famous-as-a-writer-as-a-poet-as-a-painter-as-a-2/) [Harry Crews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-crews/) > [“The Writer and Poet is excusable only if he is Successful. Makes Money.” Within”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-wagner-martin/the-writer-and-poet-is-excusable-only-if-he-is-successful-makes-money/) [Linda Wagner-Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-wagner-martin/) > [I always admire writers. My father was a writer, a poet. I always admire people who can clearly state their mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-always-admire-writers-my-father-was-a-writer-a-poet-i-always-admire/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Never the less, at the age of fifteen, having never seen a writer, a poet, a publisher or a magazine editor, and having only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-howard/never-the-less-at-the-age-of-fifteen-having-never-seen-a-writer-a/) [Robert E. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-howard/) > ['Rather You Than Me' just speaks for my natural instinct to survive, but it's also me being a writer, me being a poet -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-ross/rather-you-than-me-just-speaks-for-my-natural-instinct-to-survive-but/) [Rick Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-ross/) > [The talent of a true writer and poet is in the ear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-h-mcgill/the-talent-of-a-true-writer-and-poet-is-in-the-ear/) [Bryant H. McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-h-mcgill/) > [The inimitable writer Maxine Hong Kingston published a book in 2002 with the title To Be the Poet. However, in contrast to the transformatory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/the-inimitable-writer-maxine-hong-kingston-published-a-book-in-2002/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [We want to be famous as a writer, as a poet, as a painter, as a politician, as a singer, or what you will.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/we-want-to-be-famous-as-a-writer-as-a-poet-as-a-painter-as-a/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I always wanted to be an artist, writer and poet since I was seven, and one has to live long enough to evolve as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-always-wanted-to-be-an-artist-writer-and-poet-since-i-was-seven-and/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [“The Best Thing I love about being a writer and a poet is, I can make up my own words to fit my imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-crisstopher-poet/the-best-thing-i-love-about-being-a-writer-and-a-poet-is-i-can-make/) Ocean Crisstopher Poet ## More by Kenneth Koch > [The subject matter of the stories on the surface... there seem to be a number of stories about travel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/the-subject-matter-of-the-stories-on-the-surface-there-seem-to-be-a/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [When you finish a poem, it clicks shut like the top of a jewel box, but prose is endless. I haven't experienced an awful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/when-you-finish-a-poem-it-clicks-shut-like-the-top-of-a-jewel-box-but/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [It's a well known thing that ordinary perceptions can have a strange aspect when one is travelling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/it-s-a-well-known-thing-that-ordinary-perceptions-can-have-a-strange/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [“Summer in the trees! “It is time to strangle several bad poets.” / The yellow hobbyhorse rocks to and fro, and from the chimney…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/summer-in-the-trees-it-is-time-to-strangle-several-bad-poets-the/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [If you want to know how much I love and care for you, count the waves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/if-you-want-to-know-how-much-i-love-and-care-for-you-count-the-waves/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [“Lies belong in poems”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/lies-belong-in-poems/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [I was excited by what my painter friends were doing, and they seemed to be interested in our poetry too, and that was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/i-was-excited-by-what-my-painter-friends-were-doing-and-they-seemed/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [Picasso said once when being interviewed that one should not be one's own connoisseur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/picasso-said-once-when-being-interviewed-that-one-should-not-be-one-s/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [It takes a long time to publish a book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/it-takes-a-long-time-to-publish-a-book/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [I love painting and music, of course. I don't know nearly as much about them as I know about poetry. I've certainly been influenced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/i-love-painting-and-music-of-course-i-don-t-know-nearly-as-much-about/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [“I wasn’t ready For you. I understood nothing Seemingly except my feelings You were whirling In your life I was keeping Everything in my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/i-wasn-t-ready-for-you-i-understood-nothing-seemingly-except-my/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [I don't think the nature of my poetry is satirical or even ironic, I think it's essentially lyrical but again I don't know if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/i-don-t-think-the-nature-of-my-poetry-is-satirical-or-even-ironic-i/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [“I probably misunderstand misunderstanding itself”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/i-probably-misunderstand-misunderstanding-itself/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [“I love you as a sheriff searches for a walnut / That will solve a murder case unsolved for years / Because the murderer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/i-love-you-as-a-sheriff-searches-for-a-walnut-that-will-solve-a/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) > [I was influenced by surrealist poetry and painting as were thousands of other people, and it seems to me to have become a part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-koch/i-was-influenced-by-surrealist-poetry-and-painting-as-were-thousands/) [Kenneth Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) [Explore all 48 Kenneth Koch quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-koch/) ## More Early work quotes > [An artist's early work is inevitably made up of a mixture of tendencies and interests, some of which are compatible and some of which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bridget-riley/an-artist-s-early-work-is-inevitably-made-up-of-a-mixture-of/) [Bridget Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bridget-riley/) > [My first two books are out of print and, okay, they can sleep there comfortably. It's early work, derivative work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/my-first-two-books-are-out-of-print-and-okay-they-can-sleep-there/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [I like Cronenberg's early work; his '80s films had all these weird, amorphous flesh objects in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/autre-ne-veut/i-like-cronenberg-s-early-work-his-80s-films-had-all-these-weird/) [Autre Ne Veut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/autre-ne-veut/) > [There is in my work a very strong religious foreground and background. In the later work some of that tends to diminish, but it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-potok/there-is-in-my-work-a-very-strong-religious-foreground-and-background/) [Chaim Potok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-potok/) > [It will soon be 25 years from the date of publication of my first research work. That the scientific aspirations kindled by that early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-raman/it-will-soon-be-25-years-from-the-date-of-publication-of-my-first/) [C. V. Raman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-raman/) > [My work is still very much light-hearted, positive outlook, laugh at yourself. But it isn't going to be the laugh-a-minute kind of thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-bodett/my-work-is-still-very-much-light-hearted-positive-outlook-laugh-at/) [Tom Bodett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-bodett/) > [There are some very similar moments in the early work where the focus was on drawing, abstraction and fragmentation. Then it moved to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zaha-hadid/there-are-some-very-similar-moments-in-the-early-work-where-the-focus/) [Zaha Hadid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zaha-hadid/) > [My early work and publications centered around expanding on the analysis of life insurance in my dissertation and its relationship to investment banking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglass-north/my-early-work-and-publications-centered-around-expanding-on-the/) [Douglass North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglass-north/) > [If you get up early, work late, and pay your taxes, you will get ahead -- if you strike oil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/if-you-get-up-early-work-late-and-pay-your-taxes-you-will-get-ahead/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [Documentation is misleading, because the performance is dead. So the very early works were not documented at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-abramovic/documentation-is-misleading-because-the-performance-is-dead-so-the/) [Marina Abramovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-abramovic/) > [Rockefeller once explained the secret of success. 'Get up early, work late - and strike oil.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-adams/rockefeller-once-explained-the-secret-of-success-get-up-early-work/) [Joey Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-adams/) > [Most of my early work was done on typewriter. And the only way to iterate drafts was to re-type it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seanan-mcguire/most-of-my-early-work-was-done-on-typewriter-and-the-only-way-to/) [Seanan McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seanan-mcguire/) > [The secret of success is to get up early, work late and strike oil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-rockefeller/the-secret-of-success-is-to-get-up-early-work-late-and-strike-oil/) [John D. Rockefeller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-rockefeller/) > [To be very careful about any work that may harm your early work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/to-be-very-careful-about-any-work-that-may-harm-your-early-work/) Mak\_786 > [Then I realized my early work did have something special that audiences adored apart from what I humbly thought about them. They occupy a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dario-argento/then-i-realized-my-early-work-did-have-something-special-that/) [Dario Argento](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dario-argento/) [Browse all 54 Early work quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-work/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As I look over my work, I mean every time I look over my early work, I see, yes, I could do that then and then I could do that and that... 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