Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do.

There is a certain justice in criticism. The critic is like a midwife - a tyrannical midwife.

Never allow gradually the traffic to smother with noise and fog the flowering of the spirit.

History is the ship carrying living memories to the future.

The greatest of all human delusions is that there is a tangible goal, and not just direction towards an ideal aim. The idea that a goal can be attained perpetually frustrates human beings, who are disappointed at never getting there, never being able to stop.

An English poet writes, I think, just for people who are interested in poetry. An American poet writes, and feels that everyone ought to appreciate this. Then he has a deep sense of grievance . . .

Never being, but always at the edge of Being.