Marguerite Young

“Some of the poetic writers who insert passages of realism in their texts have no underlying philosophy to uphold them, and revert to realism.”

“I've been willing to go for years without publishing. That's been my career.”

“I never fantasized or invented a thing, not one thing. I knew every single thing I ever wrote about.”

“All my writing is about the recognition that there is no single reality. But the beauty of it is that you nevertheless go on, walking towards utopia, which may not exist, on a bridge which might end before you reach the other side.”

“When the dream came into being, I always pursued it.”

“There were also some cruel reviews by women, but the tone of the male reviewers, sometimes hysterical, was different. I have suffered, but I don't want to name names-but there have been men who have seemed to want to destroy me or my writing, men I don't even know.”

“At the age of 18 all young poets are sure they will be dead at 21 - of old age.”

“If you understand hallucination and illusion, you don't blindly follow any leader. You must know if the person is sane or insane, over the abyss.”

“I'm as much influenced by Joseph Smith and the Mormons as I am, more so, than by Eliot. Actually, I'm much more influenced by the poetry of the Mormons.”

“Is it experimental to have been influenced by the Bible? By Saint Augustine?”

“The first money I ever had was when I received an award from the American Association of University Women.”

“I don't believe there can be a poetic novel without political consciousness. I have a strong political conscience.”