Wallace Stevens Quotes

Quotes about:

• Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.

  Wallace Stevens

  Truth, Lakes, Hiking

  "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction". Poem by Wallace Stevens, 1942.

  54 Copy quote

• All poetry is experimental poetry.

  Wallace Stevens

  Poetry, Poetry Is

  1957 Opus Posthumous, Aphorisms,'Adagia'.

  4 Copy quote

• The mind is smaller than the eye.

  Wallace Stevens

  Eye, Mind

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens”, p.161, Vintage

  4 Copy quote

• Imagination is the power of the mind over the possibilities of things.

  Wallace Stevens

  Imagination, Mind, Possibility

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “The Necessary Angel: Essays on Reality and the Imagination”, p.136, Vintage

  11 Copy quote

• One must read poetry with one's nerves.

  Wallace Stevens

  Nerves

  4 Copy quote

• Reality is a cliché from which we escape by metaphor.

  Wallace Stevens

  Reality, Metaphor

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose”, p.260, Vintage

  13 Copy quote

• The imagination is one of the forces of nature.

  Wallace Stevens

  Imagination, Force, Forces Of Nature

  Wallace Stevens (1997). “Collected Poetry and Prose”

  60 Copy quote

• True villains are extremely photogenic.

  Wallace Stevens

  Villain, Photogenic

  139 Copy quote

• Throw away the light, the definitions, and say what you see in the dark.

  Wallace Stevens

  Dark, Light, Definitions

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens”, p.183, Vintage

  10 Copy quote

• I thought how utterly we have forsaken the Earth, in the sense of excluding it from our thoughts. There are but few who consider its physical hugeness, its rough enormity. It is still a disparate monstrosity, full of solitudes, barrens, wilds. It still dwarfs, terrifies, crushes. The rivers still roar, the mountains still crash, the winds still shatter. Man is an affair of cities. His gardens, orchards and fields are mere scrapings. Somehow, however, he has managed to shut out the face of the giant from his windows. But the giant is there, nevertheless.

  Wallace Stevens

  Crush, Men, Garden

  33 Copy quote

• The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.

  Wallace Stevens

  Inspirational, Beautiful, Travel

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose”, p.249, Vintage

  46 Copy quote

• It is not everyday that the world arranges itself into a poem.

  Wallace Stevens

  Everyday, World

  32 Copy quote

• Poetry is the statement of a relation between a man and the world

  Wallace Stevens

  Inspiration, Men, World

  Wallace Stevens (1997). “Collected Poetry and Prose”

  4 Copy quote

• Accuracy of observation is the equivalent of accuracy of thinking.

  Wallace Stevens

  Science, Thinking, Observation

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose”, p.240, Vintage

  13 Copy quote

• A change of style is a change of meaning.

  Wallace Stevens

  Style

  6 Copy quote

• The sea
  Severs not only lands but also selves.

  Wallace Stevens

  Self, Sea, Land

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “The Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens”, p.30, Vintage

  4 Copy quote

• The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.

  Wallace Stevens

  Journey, World, Way

  Wallace Stevens (1997). “Collected Poetry and Prose”

  45 Copy quote

• Poetry is a means of redemption.

  Wallace Stevens

  Mean, Poetry, Redemption

  1957 Opus Posthumous, Aphorisms,'Adagia'.

  7 Copy quote

• Style is not something applied. It is something that permeates.

  Wallace Stevens

  Style

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose”, p.351, Vintage

  11 Copy quote

• Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.

  Wallace Stevens

  People, Water, Shapes

  22 Copy quote

• The poet represents the mind in the act of defending us against itself.

  Wallace Stevens

  Mind, Poet

  1957 Opus Posthumous, Aphorisms,'Adagia'.

  4 Copy quote

• It's not always easy to tell the difference between thinking and looking out of the window.

  Wallace Stevens

  Thinking, Differences, Entrepreneur

  Wallace Stevens (1966). “Letters”

  10 Copy quote

• Imagination applied to the whole world is vapid in comparison to imagination applied to a detail.

  Wallace Stevens

  Imagination, Vapid, Details

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose”, p.256, Vintage

  13 Copy quote

• The world about us would be desolate except for the world within us.

  Wallace Stevens

  Would Be, World, Desolate

  Wallace Stevens (1951). “The Relations Between Poetry and Painting”

  20 Copy quote

• The purpose of poetry is to make life complete in itself.

  Wallace Stevens

  Poetry, Purpose, Poetry Is

  Wallace Stevens (2011). “Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose”, p.243, Vintage

  4 Copy quote

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