11 Quotes by Don Paterson

Inconveniently, books are all the pages in them, not just the ones you choose to read.

The aphorism is already a shadow of itself.

After a long period of reflection, he decided that he was in fact right yet again.

Anything that elicits an immediate nod of recognition has only reconfirmed a prejudice.

Falling and flying are near identical sensations, in all but one final detail.

No fury more righteous than that of a sinner accused of the wrong sin.

Poetry, unlike music, is a meta-art, and relies upon non-physical structures for the production of its effects. In its case, the medium is syntax, grammar and logical continuity, which together form the carrier-wave of plain sense within which its deeper meanings are broadcast.

Mediocre art is far worse than bad art. Bad art does not waste our time.

We could easily have evolved eyelids thick enough to keep out the light, but we still need to see the shadows fall across them. We’re not yet safe.