A. R. Ammons

“Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars in our galaxy alone.”

“If a poem is each time new, then it is necessarily an act of discovery, a chance taken, a chance that may lead to fulfillment or disaster.”

“Only silence perfects silence.”

“If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague answer, such as, 'Poetry is the music of words,' or 'Poetry is the linguistic correction of disorder.'”

“There's something to be said in favor of working in isolation in the real world.”

“For though we often need to be restored to the small, concrete, limited, and certain, we as often need to be reminded of the large, vague, unlimited, unknown.”