The day will happen whether or not you get up.

Quote by John Ciardi

Topics: John Ciardi Quotes

You don't have to suffer to be a poet; adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.

You don't have to suffer to be a poet; adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.

Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation...

Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation...

A neighborhood is a residential area that is changing for the worse.

A neighborhood is a residential area that is changing for the worse.

A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into...

A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into...

The reader deserves an honest opinion. If he doesn't deserve it, give it to him...

The reader deserves an honest opinion. If he doesn't deserve it, give it to him...

There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation.

There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation.

Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that...

Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that...

A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in the students.

A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in the students.

A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.

A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.

Early to bed and early to rise probably indicates unskilled labor.

Early to bed and early to rise probably indicates unskilled labor.

What has any poet to trust more than the feel of the thing? Theory concerns...

What has any poet to trust more than the feel of the thing? Theory concerns...

Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone.

Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone.

Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to...

Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to...

It is easy enough to praise men for the courage of their convictions. I wish...

It is easy enough to praise men for the courage of their convictions. I wish...

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.

But when the pen is in his hand he has to write by itch and...

But when the pen is in his hand he has to write by itch and...

Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.

Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.

Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.

Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence.

In my professional work with the Agency, by the late '70s, I had come to...

In my professional work with the Agency, by the late '70s, I had come to...

Undernourished, intelligence becomes like the bloated belly of a starving child: swollen, filled with nothing...

Undernourished, intelligence becomes like the bloated belly of a starving child: swollen, filled with nothing...