James Wright Quotes

• Suddenly I realize That if I stepped out of my body I would break Into blossom.

  James Wright

  Body, Realizing, Break

  James Wright (2011). “The Branch Will Not Break: Poems”, p.57, Wesleyan University Press

  54 Copy quote

• Poetry can keep life itself alive. You can endure almost anything as long as you can sing about it.

  James Wright

  Long, Alive, Endure

  27 Copy quote

• It goes without saying that a fine short poem can have the resonance and depth of an entire novel.

  James Wright

  Depth, Resonance, Fine

  22 Copy quote

• There is this cave In the air behind my body That nobody is going to touch: A cloister, a silence Closing around a blossom of fire. When I stand upright in the wind, My bones turn to dark emeralds.

  James Wright

  Dark, Fire, Air

  James Wright (2011). “Collected Poems”, p.114, Wesleyan University Press

  20 Copy quote

• In a pine tree,/ A few yards from my window sill,/ A brilliant blue jay is springing up and down, up and/ down./ On a branch./ I laugh, as I see him abandon himself/ To entire delight, for he knows as well as I do/ That the branch will not break.

  James Wright

  Blue, Laughing, Tree

  James Wright (2011). “Collected Poems”, p.125, Wesleyan University Press

  20 Copy quote

• Practice good personal hygiene. Wash your hands before you eat. Be aware of good clean water and food sources.

  James Wright

  Hands, Practice, Hygiene

  26 Copy quote

• I close my eyes, and think of water.

  James Wright

  Eye, Thinking, Water

  James Wright (2011). “Collected Poems”, p.129, Wesleyan University Press

  19 Copy quote

• In life, you gotta do something. And the medical journals keep on saying if you've got a goal or some passion in life, you'll outlive all the other guys who - the bank manager that retired. They gave him a rocking chair and he rocked himself to death. So you gotta have a passion, whatever it happens to be. Whether it's this or something else, it doesn't matter, as long as it's a reason to get out of bed every morning, as my accountant of 50 years keeps on saying.

  James Wright

  Morning, Passion, Years

  17 Copy quote

• Most of the pollution in the water already is dead animal and plant matter and building debris, ... good stagnant nursery for mosquitoes.

  James Wright

  Animal, Water, Matter

  17 Copy quote

• I write abundantly. And then my next step is to struggle to reduce the ornament, to reduce the abundance-to prune the book, in other words, the way one prunes a tree-so it can grow. This is my idea of a book.

  James Wright

  Struggle, Book, Writing

  8 Copy quote

• Look: I am nothing. I do not even have ashes to rub into my eyes.

  James Wright

  Eye, Ashes, Looks

  James Wright (2011). “The Branch Will Not Break: Poems”, p.12, Wesleyan University Press

  5 Copy quote

• Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota

  James Wright

  Lying, Islands, Hammocks

  James Wright (2011). “The Branch Will Not Break: Poems”, p.16, Wesleyan University Press

  11 Copy quote

• They can buy whatever brand they want. We will supply the finance.

  James Wright

  Want, Finance, Brands

  5 Copy quote

• I asked the Mesquite coach who he thought the best team in Mesquite is. He said they were about even.

  James Wright

  Team, Said, Best Team

  5 Copy quote

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