Most poets, like most people, try hard to be like someone they admire or they are possessed with an image of what they ought to be.

Quote by James Broughton

Topics: James Broughton Quotes

Trusting your individual uniqueness challenges you to lay yourself open.

Trusting your individual uniqueness challenges you to lay yourself open.

The American public does not know poets exist.

The American public does not know poets exist.

My earliest poems sing of the absolute necessity of allowing love to invade and pervade...

My earliest poems sing of the absolute necessity of allowing love to invade and pervade...

Some artists shrink from self-awareness, fearing that it will destroy their unique gifts and even...

Some artists shrink from self-awareness, fearing that it will destroy their unique gifts and even...

Rarest of the real poets are born poets. They are the oddballs, not the professors.

Rarest of the real poets are born poets. They are the oddballs, not the professors.

Today the U.S. is farther from being nourished by poetry than it was a hundred...

Today the U.S. is farther from being nourished by poetry than it was a hundred...

The only limits are, as always, those of vision.

The only limits are, as always, those of vision.

I'm happy to report that my inner child is still ageless.

I'm happy to report that my inner child is still ageless.

I often start writing in order to excite an expansive emotion.

I often start writing in order to excite an expansive emotion.

For me a poem has to sing out of itself and the lilt of it...

For me a poem has to sing out of itself and the lilt of it...

The quietest poetry can be an explosion of joy.

The quietest poetry can be an explosion of joy.

Most poets in their youth begin in adolescent sadness. I find it more rewarding to...

Most poets in their youth begin in adolescent sadness. I find it more rewarding to...

Poetry for me is as much a spiritual practice as sexual ecstasy is.

Poetry for me is as much a spiritual practice as sexual ecstasy is.

And to Shakespeare I owe my vision of the world as a theater, wherein all...

And to Shakespeare I owe my vision of the world as a theater, wherein all...

If you don't fill your days with love, you are wasting your life.

If you don't fill your days with love, you are wasting your life.

Adversity is a stimulus.

Adversity is a stimulus.

Everything is Song. Everything is Silence. Since it all turns out to be illusion, perfectly...

Everything is Song. Everything is Silence. Since it all turns out to be illusion, perfectly...

In the world of poetry there are would-be poets, workshop poets, promising poets, lovesick poets,...

In the world of poetry there are would-be poets, workshop poets, promising poets, lovesick poets,...

My major aim in writing is to set out flags and issue wake-up calls.

My major aim in writing is to set out flags and issue wake-up calls.

I never wanted to dilute my private passion for the art by airing and arguing...

I never wanted to dilute my private passion for the art by airing and arguing...