Robert Pinsky Quotes

Autobiography is a genre notorious for falsehood. ~ Robert Pinsky

Jazz and poetry both involve a structure that may be familiar and to some extent predictable. And then, you try to create as much surprise and spontaneity and feeling and variation while respecting that structure. ~ Robert Pinsky

Method involves a slavish addiction to laws, and we can only aspire to anarchy. ~ Robert Pinsky

The poetry I love is written with someone's voice and I believe its proper culmination is to be read with someone's voice. And the human voice in that sense is not electronically reproduced or amplified. ~ Robert Pinsky

To talk about the reality of life here and the work that you do here at the university. ~ Robert Pinsky

Poetry is a vocal art for me - but not necessarily a performative one. It might be reading to oneself or recalling some lines by memory. ~ Robert Pinsky

A sentence is like a tune. A memorable sentence gives its emotion a melodic shape. You want to hear it again, say it - in a way, to hum it to yourself. You desire, if only in the sound studio of your imagination, to repeat the physical experience of that sentence. That craving, emotional and intellectual but beginning in the body with a certain gesture of sound, is near the heart of poetry. ~ Robert Pinsky

For an American, there's no automatic place where people love the art of poetry. There's not a social class that considers poetry its property the way in some countries there's a snob value to the art. ~ Robert Pinsky

For a lot of people, well-meaning teaching has made poetry seem arcane, difficult, a kind of brown-knotting medicine that might be good for you but doesn't taste so good. So I tried to make a collection of poetry that would be fun. And that would bring out poetry as an art, rather than the challenge to say smart things. ~ Robert Pinsky

Art will not solve your problems. It will not enable you to live merrily. ~ Robert Pinsky

The best argument for teaching poetry is to put a three-year-old or a four-year-old and read Dr. Seuss, or Robert Louis Stevenson, and to feel how the child and you are engaging in something that's really basic to the animal, which is passing on in these rhythmic ways, something that came from somewhere. ~ Robert Pinsky

To me, writing is a matter of voice. I think like that. The expression I sometimes use to myself is 'actual song.' That what I do is somewhere on the line between speaking to you as I am now and actual song. And the things I love when I say one of those poems to myself - it's a little bit like singing, it's a little bit like speaking. ~ Robert Pinsky

For Aliki Barnstone, poetry seems a natural medium. The vision and cadences of these poems suggest a sensibility for which poetry is as inevitable as breathing or eating. ~ Robert Pinsky

Poetry's medium is the individual chest and throat and mouth of whoever undertakes to say the poem. ~ Robert Pinsky

All questions of process require an answer that begins with a very important sentence, and the sentence is: 'Everybody is different.' Whatever way of working you name - methodical, haphazard, gets up early in the morning, sleeps all day, works at night, revises immensely, never revises at all - someone has made great work with that way. ~ Robert Pinsky

Even in the scorched and frozen world of the dead after the
holocaust
The wheel as it turns goes on accreting ornaments. ~ Robert Pinsky

New Jersey is the most poetic state: close enough to New York to be urban and cosmopolitan, far enough to be desirous and unsure; densely populated, but full of farms and woods, with the most deer of any state. ~ Robert Pinsky

Deciding to remember, and what to remember, is how we decide who we are. ~ Robert Pinsky

Poetic language is singularly appropriate for recounting the life of the king who is traditionally accepted as the author of the poetic psalms, some of which are included in the narrative. ~ Robert Pinsky

When I had no roof I made Audacity my roof. ROBERT PINSKY, "Samurai Song" Never never never give up. WINSTON CHURCHILL ~ Cheryl Strayed

Symmetry suggests one myth, or significance: the drinking of writers coming from too much concentration, in solitude, upon feelings expressed for or even about possibly indifferent people, people who are absent or perhaps dead, or unborn; the suicide of psychiatrists coming from too much attention, in most intimate contact, concentrated upon the feelings of people toward whom one may feel indifferent, people who are certain, sooner or later, to die... ~ Robert Pinsky

The wonderful 17th Century poet, Robert Herrick, wrote a poem entitled, 'To Live Merrily and to Trust to Good Verses.' Easy to say, Robert Herrick; not always easy to do. But it's a good slogan, I think. ~ Robert Pinsky

If you want to make films, you'll watch Kurosawa. If you want to play a violin, you listen to Seghetti. Same with somebody who has the ambition to play in the NBA. I watch a basketball game; I enjoy it. Somebody who really wants to learn to play is studying whatever is most magnificent that's going on out there. ~ Robert Pinsky

An artist needs not so much an audience, as to feel a need to answer, a promise to respond ... a good feeling about his art. ~ Robert Pinsky

I delight sometimes in saying to - as when I'm a teacher, I love saying, 'This is really important, so don't write it down.' To me, what you retain is a very important filter. ~ Robert Pinsky

I'm far from immune to the American, perhaps historically male, prejudice toward practical and physical competence; I hope I've also considered that prejudice enough to have some distance from it. ~ Robert Pinsky

In jazz, as in poetry, there is always that play between what's regular and what's wild. That has always appealed to me. ~ Robert Pinsky

I am a frustrated saxophone player. If I could, I would abandon all of my books, and I would trade it all if I could play the way people I admire play. ~ Robert Pinsky

Samurai Song"

When I had no roof I made
Audacity my roof. When I had
No supper my eyes dined.

When I had no eyes I listened.
When I had no ears I thought.
When I had no thought I waited.

When I had no father I made
Care my father. When I had
No mother I embraced order.

When I had no friend I made
Quiet my friend. When I had no
Enemy I opposed my body.

When I had no temple I made
My voice my temple. I have
No priest, my tongue is my choir.

When I have no means fortune
Is my means. When I have
Nothing, death will be my fortune.

Need is my tactic, detachment
Is my strategy. When I had
No lover I courted my sleep. ~ Robert Pinsky

The medium of poetry is a human body: the column of air inside the chest, shaped into signifying sounds in the larynx and the mouth. In this sense, poetry is just as physical or bodily an art as dancing. ~ Robert Pinsky

I don't like to have a calm, orderly, quiet place to work. I often compose while driving, compose in my head. It is true that I wrote my little book, 'The Sounds of Poetry, A Brief Guide,' almost entirely in airplanes and airport departure lounges. ~ Robert Pinsky

Poetry's medium is not merely light as air, it is air: vital and deep as ordinary breath. ~ Robert Pinsky

I think my first experience of art, or the joy in making art, was playing the horn at some high-school dance or bar mitzvah or wedding, looking at a roomful of people moving their bodies around in time to what I was doing. There was a piano player, a bass player, a drummer, and my breath making the melody. ~ Robert Pinsky

The best anthology is the one each reader compiles, personally, according to his or her judgment, pleasure and awe." ~ Robert Pinsky, Singing School, 2013 ~ Robert Pinsky

What are you eating for breakfast? Go get yourself a big bowl of nos! You will be shocked at how big and strong you will grow. ~ Robert D. Smith

Only God who appointed me will remove me. ~ Robert Mugabe

the book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, he wrote about how he survived a Nazi concentration camp by creating a Why every day: a reason to live, to try - a reason not to give up. It would have been much easier to give up, Frankl noted, and most did. ~ Robert J. Langone

Some morbidity in me attracts mosquitoes ~ Robert Lowell

America's real business leaders understand unless or until the middle class regains its footing and its faith, capitalism remains vulnerable. ~ Robert Reich

Everyone's always interested in a dark theme, especially when there's humor connected to it. It seems like that helps, if that's an integral and organic part of the whole story. ~ Robert De Niro

I was born once.
The doctor was late.
I made my own way out.
The nurse slapped my insolence.
"Suffocate me!" I screamed, "I shall not recant. ~ Robert Skyler

Sitting and watching a game show, or betting on your lucky numbers is not the price that most of the top 1% paid to become rich ~ Robert Kiyosaki

I was always nervous about coming back to Australia which was a complete hangover of the days when I left when ballet was not accepted, when I was not accepted, when I was considered a freak for wanting to be a ballet dancer. And, to be 100% honest, I rather dreaded coming back ... ~ Robert Helpmann

There is really only one way to learn good writing: good reading and extensive writing and revising. ~ Robert Lane Greene

Catastrophe is change on the fast track. Disaster is a laboratory for adaptability. ~ Robert Watson

I am pure performance, and Robert Wilson is pure theater. ~ Marina Abramovic

If you're driving more than 50 mph through a neighborhood where the speed limit is 25 mph, I question whether you should keep your driver's license. You're a menace to society. ~ Robert James Thomson

that feeling you might call "writer's block" is actually fear. The ~ Robert Maurer

And I'm in favor of that because I have a gay son, who's a very successful theater designer. ~ Robert MacNeil

To try to become happy is to try to build a machine with no other specifications than it shall run noiselessly. ~ J. Robert Oppenheimer

If God existed (concerning which Jubal maintained neutrality) and if He wanted to be worshipped (a proposition which Jubal found improbable but nevertheless possible in the light of his own ignorance), then it seemed wildly unlikely that a God potent to shape galaxies would be swayed by the whoop-te-do nonsense the Fosterites offered as "worship." But ~ Robert A. Heinlein

I resigned from the Marine Corps and flying in 1974, even though I loved them both. I quit because I no longer wanted to fight for peace. Instead, I believe we can build a more sustainable peace by working for prosperity. ~ Robert Kiyosaki

If you feel bad at 10 miles, you're in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you're normal. If you don't feel bad at 26 miles, you're abnormal. ~ Robert De Castella

Eight Bells: Robert J. Kane '55D died June 3, 2017, in Palm Harbor, Florida. He came to MMA by way of Boston College. Bob or "Killer," as he was affectionately known, was an independent and eccentric soul, enjoying the freedom of life. After a career at sea as an Officer in the U.S. Navy and in the Merchant Marine he retired to an adventurous single life living with his two dogs in a mobile home, which had originally been a "Yellow School Bus." He loved watching the races at Daytona, Florida, telling stories about his interesting deeds about flying groceries to exotic Caribbean Islands, and misdeeds with mysterious ladies he had known. For years he spent his summers touring Canada and his winters appreciating the more temperate weather at Fort De Soto in St. Petersburg, Florida…. Enjoying life in the shadow of the Sunshine Bridge, Bob had an artistic flare, a positive attitude and a quick sense of humor. Not having a family, few people were aware that he became crippled by a hip replacement operation gone bad at the Bay Pines VA Hospital. His condition became so bad that he could hardly get around, but he remained in good spirits until he suffered a totally debilitating stroke. For the past 6 years Bob spent his time at various Florida Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes and Palliative Care Hospitals. His end came when he finally wound up as a terminal patient at the Hospice Facility in Palm Harbor, Florida. Bob was 86 years old when he passed. He will be missed…. ~ Hank Bracker

It's like an eraser, only I designed it to be attracted to erase one specific thing... the tissue lining the human heart. ~ Robert Jackson Bennett

At 40 years of age, I thought I knew everything. I got a reality check with this class. Kenny (Winston) has become like a big brother to me. We've learned to agree to disagree. I hope and pray that this program continues and we all keep in touch. I'm a st ~ Robert Hughes

We all know that change is hard, but we don't know enough about why it is so hard and what we can do about it. ~ Robert Kegan

The world supports a multi-million dollar industry of intelligence and ability research, but it devotes virtually nothing to determine why this intelligence is squandered by engaging in amazing, breathtaking acts of stupidity. ~ Robert Sternberg

We in Government have begun to recognize the critical work which must be done at all levels-local, State and Federal-in ending the pollution of our waters. ~ Robert Kennedy

It is not possible to be a scientist unless you believe that it is good to learn ... that it is of the highest value to share your knowledge ... with anyone who is interested ... that the knowledge of the world, and the power which this gives, is a thing which is of intrinsic value to humanity ~ J. Robert Oppenheimer

We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another. ~ J. Robert Oppenheimer

Home is the place in deepest space
Where star etched memories burn,
Home is that sigh for a color of sky
and a will to return. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

How errors of human judgment can infect even the smartest people, thanks to overconfidence, lack of attention to details, and excessive trust in the judgments of others, stemming from a failure to understand that others are not making independent judgments but are themselves following still others - the blind leading the blind. ~ Robert J. Shiller

The undressed is vulgar; the nude is pure, and the well-dressed tainted. ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

Regardless of how you feel about peak oil or global warming, the increased use of natural gas is a positive thing because it is being found at a rate that is faster than that of new oil reserves, it is relatively abundant and the reserves are longer lived than the oil reserves. It does not get the kind of attention it deserves. ~ Robert Bryce

The only honourable work my parents knew was blue-collar. But while my father Robert ran a pawnbroker's shop, and my mother was a waitress, I moved into a middle-class world with a level of security they never knew. ~ Norman Foster

Learning became her. She loved the smell of the book from the shelves, the type on the pages, the sense that the world was an infinite but knowable place. Every fact she learned seemed to open another question, and for every question there was another book. ~ Robert Goolrick

Ars moriendi ars vivendi est: the art of dying is the art of living. ~ Robert Charles Wilson

The only time you know for sure whether creating a result is possible or not is when you have done it. All other thoughts on the matter are simply speculation. ~ Robert Fritz

In every moment, we're sailing on oceans where wonders are not just the exception; they are the rule. ~ Robert A. Giacalone

History does not record anywhere or at any time a religion that has any rational basis. ~ Robert A. Heinlein

First is the danger of futility; the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills - against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32-year-old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all. ~ Robert F. Kennedy

You need to find a way to propel this creativity to the masses. People get brainwashed and they start to forget what's good. ~ Robert Trujillo

He recollected his courage. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

The only way out is to go through ~ Robert Frost

I have loved the Department of Justice ever since, as a young boy, I watched Robert Kennedy prove during the Civil Rights Movement how the department can - and must - always be a force for that which is right. ~ Eric Holder

Image perception makes a big difference. That's one of the things I tell entrepreneurs today. Fine, focus on products, focus on customers and all that good stuff - that's necessary. But the image that you project is also key. Don't forget that. ~ Robert Jordan

There can never be an absolutely final translation. ~ Robert McQueen Grant

Sometimes you need to be alone in order to reflect on life. Take time out to take care of yourself. You deserve it. ~ Robert Tew