“Shakespeare wrote better poetry for not knowing too much; Milton, I think, knew too much finally for the good of his poetry.”

Source: Attributed from posthumous publications, Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead (1954), Ch. 43, November 11, 1947.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 14, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Shakespeare wrote better poetry for not knowing too much; Milton, I think, knew too much finally for the good of his po…" by Alfred North Whitehead?
Alfred North Whitehead photo
Alfred North Whitehead 112
English mathematician and philosopher 1861–1947

Related quotes

Yevgeny Yevtushenko photo

“In general, in poetry and literature, I am among those people who believe that too much is indispensable.”

Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1932–2017) Russian poet, film director, teacher

New York Times (2 February 1986).

Dana Gioia photo
Marianne Moore photo

“You know I don't really understand much of my poetry myself. Of course, I was convinced I understood it when I wrote it!”

Marianne Moore (1887–1972) American poet and writer

Quoted by Malvina Hoffman in her Memoir - Yesterday is Tomorrow 1961

Jack Vance photo
Ted Williams photo

“If you don't think too good, don't think too much.”

Ted Williams (1918–2002) American professional baseball player

As quoted in The Gigantic Book of Baseball Quotations (2007) edited by Wayne Stewart, p. 360

Cecelia Ahern photo
Kurt Cobain photo

“Sandburg is unreadable today only because of the way he wrote. His prose was bad poetry, like his poetry.”

Clive James (1939–2019) Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator and memoirist

'On American Movie Critics' (New York Times Book Review, June 4, 2006)
Essays and reviews

“His poetry, so wonderful when it is really flying, isn’t trying to tell you how much he knows. It’s giving thanks for how much there is to be known.”

Clive James (1939–2019) Australian author, critic, broadcaster, poet, translator and memoirist

On Peter Porter, 'Talking for Posterity' (Times Literary Supplement, May 14, 2010)
Essays and reviews
Context: [H]e could never have played the hero, because for him it was creativity itself that had the heroic status, beyond politics, beyond patriotism, beyond even personal happiness. It’s the reason why his work is like that. His poetry, so wonderful when it is really flying, isn’t trying to tell you how much he knows. It’s giving thanks for how much there is to be known.

Related topics