“In other words, you don’t want to be serious—
It takes two to be serious.”

— E.E. Cummings

"Forward to an Exhibit: II" (1945)
Context: Your poems are rather hard to understand, whereas your paintings are so easy.
Easy?
Of course—you paint flowers and girls and sunsets; things that everybody understands.
I never met him.
Who?
Everybody.
Did you ever hear of nonrepresentational painting?
I am.
Pardon me?
I am a painter, and painting is nonrepresentational.
Not all painting.
No: housepainting is representational.
And what does a housepainter represent?
Ten dollars an hour.
In other words, you don’t want to be serious—
It takes two to be serious.

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E.E. Cummings 208

American poet 1894–1962

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“In other words, you don’t want to be serious—It takes two to be serious.”

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E.E. Cummings 208

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“In other words, you don’t want to be serious—
It takes two to be serious.”