Stephen Spender

“When a child, my dreams rode on your wishes, I was your son, high on your horse, My mind a top whipped by the lashes Of your rhetoric, windy of course.”

“Religion stands, the Church blocking the sun.”

“There is a certain justice in criticism. The critic is like a midwife - a tyrannical midwife.”

“The greatest of all human delusions is that there is a tangible goal, and not just direction towards an ideal aim. The idea that a goal can be attained perpetually frustrates human beings, who are disappointed at never getting there, never being able to stop.”

“Great poetry is always written by somebody straining to go beyond what he can do.”

“When you read and understand a poem, comprehending its rich and formal meanings, then you master chaos a little.”