Mark Strand

• "The future is always beginning now.“
• "It's very hard to write humor.“
• "Usually a life turned into a poem is misrepresented.“
• "Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure.“
• "Poetry is, first and last, language - the rest is filler.“
• "Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments.“
• "I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony.“
• "I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality.“
• "I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies, but it's clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream.“
• "I believe that all poetry is formal in that it exists within limits, limits that are either inherited by tradition or limits that language itself imposes.“
• "And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written.“
• "And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem.“
• "A life is not sufficiently elevated for poetry, unless, of course, the life has been made into an art.“
• "A great many people seem to think writing poetry is worthwhile, even though it pays next to nothing and is not as widely read as it should be.“

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