“(Conviction) is possible only in a world more primitive than ours can be perceived to be. A man can achieve a simply gnomic conviction only by ignoring the radical describers of his environment or by hating them as convinced men have hated say Darwin and Freud as agents of some devil.”

“Poetry lies its way to the truth.”

“You don't have to suffer to be a poet adolescence is enough suffering for anyone. ”

“Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.”

“Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to do but keep his house open to hope.”

“If a man means his writing seriously he must mean to write well. But how can he write well until he learns to see what he has written badly. His progress toward good writing and his recognition of bad writing are bound to unfold at something like the same rate.”

“You have to fall in love with hanging around words.”

“Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal with nothing to do but keep his house open to hope.”

“Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves they have a better idea.”

“Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone.”

“A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.”