“You can't make poetry simply by avoiding clichés.”

“Degas was discussing poetry with Mallarmé; "It isn't ideas I'm short of… I've got too many", said Degas. "But Degas," replied Mallarmé, "you can't make a poem with ideas. … You make it with words.”

“Then one can't make a living out of poetry?"
"Certainly not. What fool expects to? Out of rhyming, yes.”

“You can woo a girl with a poem, but you can't hold onto her with a poem. Not even with a poetry movement.”

“After you think, you act. After you act, you learn. Make decisions, but decisions will have risks of mistakes. But make sure you avoid disastrous mistakes and avoid making the same mistake twice.”

“We often convince ourselves that we cannot change, that we cannot overcome the circumstances of our lives. That is simply not true. You have been blessed with immeasurable power to make positive changes in your life.
But you can't just wish it, you can't just hope it, you can't just want it… you have to LIVE it, BE it, DO it.”

“Writers are not neccessarily articulate simply because poetry is their stock-in-trade.”

“But you hate poetry!
Yes, but you make me want to write it.”

“You're spending your life without renewing it. You've got to be amused, properly healthily amused. You're spending your vitality without making any. Can't go on you know. Depression! Avoid depression!”

“Most poetry involves rhythmically structured or patterned language, avoiding what might be called 'a singing line.”