John Berryman

“Bats have no bankers and they do not drink and cannot be arrested and pay no tax and, in general, bats have it made.”

“During those years he met his seminars,went & lectured & read, talked with human beings,paid insurance & taxes;but his mind was not on it. his mind was elsewheresin an area where the soul not talks but sings& where foes are attacked with axes.”

“Them lady poets must not marry, pal . . . It is a true error to marry with poets / or to be by them.”

“We must travel in the direction of our fear.”

“I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.”

“I do strongly feel that among the greatest pieces of luck for high achievement is ordeal. Certain great artists can make out without it, Titian and others, but mostly you need ordeal. My idea is this: the artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business: Beethoven's deafness, Goya's deafness, Milton's blindness, that kind of thing.”

“Them lady poets must not marry, pal.”

“These Songs are not meant to be understood, you understand.They are only meant to terrify & comfort.”

“You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to achieve. Otherwise you're merely imitating yourself, going nowhere, because that's always easiest.”

“I am so wise I had my mouth sewn shut.”

“Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.”

“The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business.”