“We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words.”
John Fowles book The French Lieutenant's Woman
Source: The French Lieutenant's Woman
Ce n'est pas avec des idées qu'on fait des vers, c'est avec des mots.
A remark reported in Psychologie de l'art (1927) by Henri Delacroix, p. 93; as translated in Literary Impressionism (1973), Maria Elisabeth Kronegger, p. 77.
Observations
“We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words.”
John Fowles book The French Lieutenant's Woman
Source: The French Lieutenant's Woman
“Is it possible to write a poem or are these words just screams of outlaws exiled to the desert?”
Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman
“Is It Possible to Write a Poem?”
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “Is It Possible to Write a Poem”
“We are all writing God's poem.”
Anne Sexton (1928–1974) poet from the United States
As quoted by Erica Jong, in "Into the lion's den" in The Guardian (26 October 2000) http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2000/oct/26/features11.g2
Patricia MacLachlan (1938) American writer of children's books
Source: Word After Word After Word
“I prefer the absurdity of writing poems
to the absurdity of not writing poems.”
Wisława Szymborska (1923–2012) Polish writer
Source: Nothing Twice: Selected Poems
“…whether they write poems or don’t write poems, poets are best.”
Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) poet, critic, novelist, essayist
“Recent Poetry”, p. 227
Kipling, Auden & Co: Essays and Reviews 1935-1964 (1980)
Isabella Fyvie Mayo (1843–1914) Scottish poet, novelist, reformer
Reported in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895) by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, p. 388.
“But writing poems and letters doesn't seem to do much good.”
Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer
Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
“It’s not easy to write a poem about a poem.”
Dejan Stojanovic (1959) poet, writer, and businessman
“Is It Possible to Write a Poem?,” p. 111
The Sun Watches the Sun (1999), Sequence: “Is It Possible to Write a Poem”
“Writing cannot express all words, words cannot encompass all ideas.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher