A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine nature accurately, but write from recollection, and trust more to the imagination than the memory.

Quote by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Topics: Poets Quotes

The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtle, without being at all acute; hence...

The genius of the Spanish people is exquisitely subtle, without being at all acute; hence...

The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government...

The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government...

There is no such thing as a worthless book though there are some far worse...

There is no such thing as a worthless book though there are some far worse...

Common-sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

Common-sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.

I have often thought what a melancholy world this would be without children, and what...

I have often thought what a melancholy world this would be without children, and what...

Love is flower like; Friendship is like a sheltering tree

Love is flower like; Friendship is like a sheltering tree

Plagiarists are always suspicious of being stolen from.

Plagiarists are always suspicious of being stolen from.

Until you understand a writer's ignorance, presume yourself ignorant of his understanding.

Until you understand a writer's ignorance, presume yourself ignorant of his understanding.

That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.

That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.

Good and bad men are less than they seem.

Good and bad men are less than they seem.

The religion of the Jews is, indeed, a light; but it is as the light...

The religion of the Jews is, indeed, a light; but it is as the light...

Talent, lying in the understanding, is often inherited; genius, being the action of reason or...

Talent, lying in the understanding, is often inherited; genius, being the action of reason or...

A man's as old as he's feeling. A woman as old as she looks.

A man's as old as he's feeling. A woman as old as she looks.

All sympathy not consistent with acknowledged virtue is but disguised selfishness

All sympathy not consistent with acknowledged virtue is but disguised selfishness

I may not hope from outward forms to win The passion and the life, whose...

I may not hope from outward forms to win The passion and the life, whose...

Poetry: the best words in the best order.

Poetry: the best words in the best order.

Reviewers are usually people who would have been, poets, historians, biographer, if they could. They...

Reviewers are usually people who would have been, poets, historians, biographer, if they could. They...

A mother is a mother still, The holiest thing alive.

A mother is a mother still, The holiest thing alive.

I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry;...

I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry;...

If a man could pass through Paradise in a dream, and have a flower presented...

If a man could pass through Paradise in a dream, and have a flower presented...