Quotes by John Ciardi

“But when the pen is in his hand he has to write by itch and twitch, though certainly his itch and twitch are intimately conditioned by all his past itching and twitching, and by all his past theorizing about them.”

“Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea.”

“You dont have to suffer to be a poet; adolescence is enough suffering for anyone”

“Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to do but keep his house open to hope”

“Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old.”

“Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.”

“The classroom should be an entrance into the world, not an escape from it”

“A dollar saved is a quarter earned.”

“A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.”

“Bah! You asked for it. This is your life. The price is right enough. Youve got no secrets. People are . . . well, never mind. But tell me, boys and girls and Federal gentlemen, has anyone had time to think of Khrushchev lately?”

“Its not a how-to-do-it school but more nearly a confessional in which people who have spent their lives at the writing process itemize their failures while clinging to their hopes.”

“A neighborhood is a residential area that is changing for the worse.”

“Parents who are afraid to put their foot down usually have children who step on their toes”

“There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation”

“The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself”

“Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone”

“Written by a sponge dipped in warm milk and sprinkled with sugar.”

“The reader deserves an honest opinion. If he doesnt deserve it, give it to him anyhow.”

“Nothing goes further toward a mans liberation than the act of surviving his need for character.”

“The day will happen whether or not you get up.”