Kenneth Rexroth

“The basic line in any good verse is cadenced... building it around the natural breath structures of speech.”

“I've had it with these cheap sons of bitches who claim they love poetry but never buy a book.”

“Did you know I staged the first performance in America of At the Hawk's Well?”

“You don't become a saint until you lead a good life whether in Tibet or Italy or America.”

“Making love with you Is like drinking sea water. The more I drink The thirstier I become, Until nothing can slake my thirst But to drink the entire sea.”

“The mature man lives quietly, does good privately, takes responsibility for his actions, treats others with friendliness and courtesy, finds mischief boring and avoids it. Without the hidden conspiracy of goodwill, society would not endure an hour.”

“Man thrives where angels would die of ecstasy and where pigs would die of disgust.”

“Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense: The creative act.”

“This isn't the best town for what we're doing. Too many other things to pull the crowds away.”

“I've been around jazz and jazz musicians most of my life.”

“Mary, my little girl, was confirmed in a Buddhist temple. She saw the Life write up on Buddhism, with pictures of the ceremony, and she said she wanted to be confirmed there because she only liked Jesus as a kid. She was a little disappointed in him when he grew up.”