Children frequently sing meaningful phrases to themselves over and over again before they learn to make a distinction between singing and saying.

Quote by David Antin

Topics: David Antin Quotes

When my mother left her second husband, she wrote her autobiography and presented it to...

When my mother left her second husband, she wrote her autobiography and presented it to...

While I've had a great distaste for what's usually called song in modern poetry or...

While I've had a great distaste for what's usually called song in modern poetry or...

I didn't think about whether I was writing poems. I was thinking. And the more...

I didn't think about whether I was writing poems. I was thinking. And the more...

Disney made a fortune out of inventing the businessman's idea of the imaginary as the...

Disney made a fortune out of inventing the businessman's idea of the imaginary as the...

I was very committed to the process of composing, working at poems, putting things together...

I was very committed to the process of composing, working at poems, putting things together...

You pay your money, you take your choice. I get the audience my language attracts...

You pay your money, you take your choice. I get the audience my language attracts...

I am quite unsatisfied by the distinctions between the oral and literate.

I am quite unsatisfied by the distinctions between the oral and literate.

For several centuries what has passed for song in literary circles was any text that...

For several centuries what has passed for song in literary circles was any text that...

When you grow up in a family of languages, you develop a kind of casual...

When you grow up in a family of languages, you develop a kind of casual...

The self is an oral society in which the present is constantly running a dialogue...

The self is an oral society in which the present is constantly running a dialogue...

I'm aware of my audience in a way, and I do try to engage with...

I'm aware of my audience in a way, and I do try to engage with...

I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I...

I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I...

I was trying to find out what it was that everybody else understood without giving...

I was trying to find out what it was that everybody else understood without giving...

It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody...

It's hard being a hostage in somebody else's mouth - or a character in somebody...

I learned enough Hebrew to stagger through a meaningless ceremony that I scarcely remember.

I learned enough Hebrew to stagger through a meaningless ceremony that I scarcely remember.

A myth is the name of a terrible lie told by a smelly little brown...

A myth is the name of a terrible lie told by a smelly little brown...

When I got to the reading all the work, I was reduced to being an...

When I got to the reading all the work, I was reduced to being an...

My mother turned into a professional widow. She couldn't understand why I wanted to be...

My mother turned into a professional widow. She couldn't understand why I wanted to be...

The Sophists' paradoxical talk pieces and their public debates were entertainment in 5th century Greece....

The Sophists' paradoxical talk pieces and their public debates were entertainment in 5th century Greece....

I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I...

I hardly remember how I started to write poetry. It's hard to imagine what I...