... the reason why there are so few first-class poets is that many people have intense feelings or first-class minds but to get th...e two together so that you will be willing to put a poem through sixty drafts, to be that self-critical, to keep breaking it down, that is what is rare. Right now most poetry is just self-indulgence.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
At present I feel like a caged animal, bound up by the luxury, comfort and respectability of my position. I can't get the training... that I want without neglecting my duty.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
As debate is rare in the House of Representatives, since nearly all real business is done in the committees, it is very natural th...at such debate as there is should be very oratorical, should be "sounding off," not discussion. And this is one of the reasons why public speaking in America is still so rhetorical, why audiences for example do not often "heckle" a speaker, bombard him with questions, or embarrass him with ironical applause or laughter. It is almost as rare to interrupt a political speech as it is to interrupt a sermon. In the Senate, things are different. Any senator who can get the floor can talk as long as his wind lasts. He cannot be out of order unless he takes the most extravagant liberties. So Senate debates are often lively, often educational. They are very different from the formal pieces declaimed in the other house, or even printed and sent to the voters without being spoken at all. A senator has to persuade his colleagues, even those of his own party, or he has to intimidate them, and so the Senate has a high representation of public speakers who can discuss as well as declaim.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
After decades of unappreciated drudgery, American women just don't do housework any more--that is, beyond the minimum that is requ...ired in order to clear a path from the bedroom to the front door so they can get off to work in the mourning.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
... if you're poor and ignorant, with a child, you're a slave. Meaning that you're never going to get out of it. These women are i...n bondage to a kind of slavery that the 13th Amendment just didn't deal with. The old master provided food, clothing and health care to the slaves because he wanted them to get up and go to work in the morning. And so on welfare: you get food, clothing and shelter--you get survival, but you can't really do anything else. You can't control your life.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Off south, the bison multiply so fast a slaughter's mandatory every spring... and every spring the creeks get fat and Kicking Horse fills up.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There are so many intellectual and moral angels battling for rationalism, good citizenship, and pure spirituality; so many and suc...h eminent ones, so very vocal and authoritative! The poor devil in man needs all the support and advocacy he can get. The artist is his natural champion. When an artist deserts to the side of the angels, it is the most odious of treasons.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Where do all the women who have watched so carefully over the lives of their beloved ones get the heroism to send them to face the... cannon?LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Love's secrets, being mysteries, ever pertain to the transcendent and the infinite; and so they are as airy bridges, by which our ...further shadows pass over into the regions of the golden mists and exhalations; whence all poetical, lovely thoughts are engendered, and drop into us, as though pearls should drop from rainbows.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »