Taking the question in general, I should say, in the case of many poets, that the most important thing for them to do ... is to write as little as possible

Tennyson and Browning are poets, and they think; but they do not feel their thought as immediately as the odour of a rose. A thought to Donne was an experience; it modified his sensibility.

You will find that you survive humiliation. And that's an experience of incalculable value.

Before a cat will condescend to treat you as a trusted friend, some little token of esteem is needed, like a dish of cream.

Fading, fading: strength beyond hope and despair climbing the third stair. Lord, I am not worthy Lord, I am not worthy but speak the word only.

In the life of one man, never The same time returns.

I suspect that in our loathing of totalitarianism, there is infused a good deal of admiration for its efficiency.