John Ashbery Quotes


"The poem is sad because it wants to be yours, and cannot be."
- John Ashbery
"I like poems you can tack all over with a hammer and there are no hollow places."
- John Ashbery
(Related: Poems)

"I don't look on poetry as closed works. I feel they're going on all the time in my head and I occasionally snip off a length."
- John Ashbery
(Related: Poetry, Time)

"There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army."
- John Ashbery
(Related: Poetry, Life, People, Army, Salvation)