--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'd rather be a great bad poet than a…" description: "\"I'd rather be a great bad poet than a good bad poet.\" — Ogden Nash" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/ogden-nash-1286_greatness_i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-go_921434.png" --- # I'd rather be a great bad poet than a good bad poet. ![“I'd rather be a great bad poet than a good bad poet.” quote by Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/ogden-nash-1286_greatness_i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-go_921434.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/ogden-nash-1286_greatness_i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-go_921434.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/ogden-nash-1286_greatness_i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-go_921434.png) > “I'd rather be a great bad poet than a good bad poet.” [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Celebrates the value of bold, imperfect creativity over cautious mediocrity. **In simple terms:** Being daring is better than being safe. Key Takeaway Embrace boldness, even if flawed. Themes creativity authenticity risk artistic expression Mood playful defiant Type humorous inspirational When to use this quote - Writing - performing arts - personal projects Key Concepts Poetry Self‑acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What bold work have you avoided? - How does imperfection enhance originality? A Different Perspective Boldness can lead to criticism or failure. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Technology will never rescue anyone from being a bad poet, but if you're good, it has the potential to do a lot of exciting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/technology-will-never-rescue-anyone-from-being-a-bad-poet-but-if-you/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [The only nice poets I've ever met were bad poets, and a bad poet is not a poet at all - ergo, I've never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-burton/the-only-nice-poets-i-ve-ever-met-were-bad-poets-and-a-bad-poet-is/) [Richard Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-burton/) > [“He was, as every truly great poet has ever been, a good man; but finding it impossible to realize his own aspirations, either in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-was-as-every-truly-great-poet-has-ever-been-a-good-man-but-finding/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poet is a good citizen turned inside out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/the-poet-is-a-good-citizen-turned-inside-out/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [“If an artist only as good as there art and a poet only as good as there poetry if I am neither of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathella/if-an-artist-only-as-good-as-there-art-and-a-poet-only-as-good-as/) [Nathella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathella/) > [Jim, as just a spoken poet, was not that good. He needed the music behind him. He felt a security and a sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-manzarek/jim-as-just-a-spoken-poet-was-not-that-good-he-needed-the-music/) [Ray Manzarek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-manzarek/) > [“a poet can always find something good to write about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-houck/a-poet-can-always-find-something-good-to-write-about/) [Colleen Houck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-houck/) > [A poet is a good citizen turned inside out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/a-poet-is-a-good-citizen-turned-inside-out/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [All my shows are great. Some of them are bad. But they are all great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-grade/all-my-shows-are-great-some-of-them-are-bad-but-they-are-all-great/) Michael Grade > [How'd it go with Leesha?" "It was great! We were bad cop and bad cop!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cinda-williams-chima/how-d-it-go-with-leesha-it-was-great-we-were-bad-cop-and-bad-cop/) [Cinda Williams Chima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cinda-williams-chima/) > [Twitter can be great and very bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leann-rimes/twitter-can-be-great-and-very-bad/) [LeAnn Rimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leann-rimes/) > [You either have to be great or you have to be bad to get a good pick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magic-johnson/you-either-have-to-be-great-or-you-have-to-be-bad-to-get-a-good-pick/) [Magic Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magic-johnson/) > [A great NOW will be a great WAS! A bad NOW will always be a bad WAS, and all you can hope for is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sid-caesar/a-great-now-will-be-a-great-was-a-bad-now-will-always-be-a-bad-was/) [Sid Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sid-caesar/) > [“You forgive me coz you are great; I'm too bad coz I still love you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/navnath-godse/you-forgive-me-coz-you-are-great-i-m-too-bad-coz-i-still-love-you/) [Navnath Godse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/navnath-godse/) > [Dogs are great. Bad dogs, if you can really call them that, are perhaps the greatest of them all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grogan/dogs-are-great-bad-dogs-if-you-can-really-call-them-that-are-perhaps/) [John Grogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grogan/) ## More by Ogden Nash > [There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, and that is to have either a clear conscience or none at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/there-is-only-one-way-to-achieve-happiness-on-this-terrestrial-ball/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [The sky is now indelible ink, The branches reft asunder; But you and I we do not shrink; We love the lovely thunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/the-sky-is-now-indelible-ink-the-branches-reft-asunder-but-you-and-i/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [Middle-aged life is merry, and I love to lead it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/middle-aged-life-is-merry-and-i-love-to-lead-it/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [When a lady's erotic life is vexed God knows what God is coming next.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/when-a-lady-s-erotic-life-is-vexed-god-knows-what-god-is-coming-next/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [“Love is a word that is constantly heard, Hate is a word that is not. Love, I am told, is more precious that gold.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/love-is-a-word-that-is-constantly-heard-hate-is-a-word-that-is-not/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [A husband is a guy who tells you when you've got on too much lipstick and helps you with your girdle when your hips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/a-husband-is-a-guy-who-tells-you-when-you-ve-got-on-too-much-lipstick/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgets them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/marriage-is-the-alliance-of-two-people-one-of-whom-never-remembers/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [I claim there ain't Another Saint As great as Valentine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/i-claim-there-ain-t-another-saint-as-great-as-valentine/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [“Senescence begins And middle-age ends The day your descendants Outnumber your friends”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/senescence-begins-and-middle-age-ends-the-day-your-descendants/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [Poets arent very usefulBecause they aren't consumeful or produceful..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/poets-arent-very-usefulbecause-they-aren-t-consumeful-or-produceful/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [I don't mind their having a lot of money, and I don't care how they employ it, but I do think that they damn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/i-don-t-mind-their-having-a-lot-of-money-and-i-don-t-care-how-they/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [To maintain your marriage brimming, with really like in the wedding cup, anytime you are incorrect, admit it each time you're proper, shut up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/to-maintain-your-marriage-brimming-with-really-like-in-the-wedding/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [No, you never get any fun Out of the things you haven't done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/no-you-never-get-any-fun-out-of-the-things-you-haven-t-done/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [“Which the Chicken and Which the Egg? He drinks because she scolds, he thinks; She thinks she scolds because he drinks; And nether will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/which-the-chicken-and-which-the-egg-he-drinks-because-she-scolds-he/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [“People can't concentrate properly on blowing other people to pieces if their minds are poisoned by thoughts suitable to the twenty-fifth of December.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/people-can-t-concentrate-properly-on-blowing-other-people-to-pieces/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) [Explore all 261 Ogden Nash quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) ## More Greatness quotes > [The man who can master his time can master nearly anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-man-who-can-master-his-time-can-master-nearly-anything/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every man who is high up likes to think that he has done it all himself, and the wife smiles and lets it go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-man-who-is-high-up-likes-to-think-that-he-has-done-it-all/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What we shall need is not geniuses, or cynics, or misanthropes, or clever tacticians, but plain, honest, straghtforward men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/what-we-shall-need-is-not-geniuses-or-cynics-or-misanthropes-or/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [“You are destiny for greatness. Your future is in the hands of the Lord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/you-are-destiny-for-greatness-your-future-is-in-the-hands-of-the-lord/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-i-packer/we-need-to-discover-all-over-again-that-worship-is-natural-to-the/) [J. I. Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-i-packer/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/) [Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/) > [Men generally decide upon a middle course, which is most hazardous, for they know neither how to be entirely good nor entirely bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/men-generally-decide-upon-a-middle-course-which-is-most-hazardous-for/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Every man remembers his childhood as a kind of mythical age, just as every nation's childhood is its mythical age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/every-man-remembers-his-childhood-as-a-kind-of-mythical-age-just-as/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Greatness is not guarding yourself from people. Greatness is being accepted by the people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/greatness-is-not-guarding-yourself-from-people-greatness-is-being/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [The superior man is distressed by his want (lack) of ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/the-superior-man-is-distressed-by-his-want-lack-of-ability/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell [Browse all 7,631 Greatness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'd rather be a great bad poet than a good bad poet.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ogden Nash" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-good-bad-poet/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greatness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-good-bad-poet/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/ogden-nash-1286_greatness_i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-go_921434.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/ogden-nash-1286_greatness_i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-go_921434.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e39/ogden-nash-1286_greatness_i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-go_921434.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'd rather be a great bad poet than a good bad poet.” — Ogden Nash", "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": "Ogden Nash", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'd rather be a great bad...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-good-bad-poet/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/i-d-rather-be-a-great-bad-poet-than-a-good-bad-poet/#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 } } ] } ```