Most people read poetry listening for echoes because the echoes are familiar to them. They wade through it the way a boy wades through water, feeling with his toes for the bottom: The echoes are the bottom.

Quote by Wallace Stevens

Topics: Wallace Stevens Quotes

If some really acute observer made as much of egotism as Freud has made of...

If some really acute observer made as much of egotism as Freud has made of...

Poor, dear, silly Spring, preparing her annual surprise!

Poor, dear, silly Spring, preparing her annual surprise!

It can never be satisfied, the mind, never.

It can never be satisfied, the mind, never.

To regard the imagination as metaphysics is to think of it as part of life,...

To regard the imagination as metaphysics is to think of it as part of life,...

In the world of words, the imagination is one of the forces of nature.

In the world of words, the imagination is one of the forces of nature.

I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections, Or the beauty of...

I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections, Or the beauty of...

The fire burns as the novel taught it how.

The fire burns as the novel taught it how.

The imagination is man's power over nature.

The imagination is man's power over nature.

The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.

The reason can give nothing at all Like the response to desire.

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.

Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.

The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.

The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.

Intolerance respecting other people's religion is toleration itself in comparison with intolerance respecting other people's...

Intolerance respecting other people's religion is toleration itself in comparison with intolerance respecting other people's...

Death is the mother of Beauty; hence from her, alone, shall come fulfillment to our...

Death is the mother of Beauty; hence from her, alone, shall come fulfillment to our...

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.

There is truth in the reply of a great lawyer when asked how the lawyers...

There is truth in the reply of a great lawyer when asked how the lawyers...

It is the unknown that excites the ardor of scholars, who, in the known alone,...

It is the unknown that excites the ardor of scholars, who, in the known alone,...

After the final no there comes a yes and on that yes the future of...

After the final no there comes a yes and on that yes the future of...

One's ignorance is one's chief asset.

One's ignorance is one's chief asset.

We say God and the imagination are one... How high that highest candle lights the...

We say God and the imagination are one... How high that highest candle lights the...

The genuine artist is never rue to life. He sees what is real, but not...

The genuine artist is never rue to life. He sees what is real, but not...