Lawrence Ferlinghetti Quotes

“I am awaiting
perpetually and forever
a renaissance of wonder”

“The art has to make it on its own, without explanations, and it’s the same for poetry. If the poem or the painting has to be explained, then it’s a failure in communication.”

“Poetry is the shadow cast by our imaginations.”

“Poetry is a naked woman, a naked man, and the distance between them.”

“I feel there is an angel in me' she'd say
'whom I am
constantly shocking”

“I was the all-American boy, the Eagle Scout. I remember I was at my girlfriend's apartment, and there were these strange publications like The Nation and The New Republic. I started looking at them and thought, "Gee, this is weird; people saying things against America?" It was an awakening. On the East Coast, I'd never even heard of conscientious objectors.”

“Poetry is eternal graffiti written in the heart of everyone.”

“Don't bow down to critics who have not themselves written great masterpieces.”

“I didn’t know that painters and writers retired. They’re like soldiers – they just fade away.”

“We have seen the best minds of our generation destroyed by boredom at poetry readings.”

“I once started out
to walk around the world
but ended up in Brooklyn,
that Bridge was too much for me.”

“I am waiting for the war to be fought
which will make the world safe for anarchy”

“The pennycandystore beyond the El
is where I first
fell in love
with unreality”

“It was a face which darkness could kill
in an instant”