27 Quotes by Richard Hugo

Never write a poem about anything that ought to have a poem written about it.

I hate that phrase “the real world.” Why is an aircraft factory more real than a university? Is it?

Don’t write with a pen. Ink tends to give the impression the words shouldn’t be changed.

A poet is seldom hard up for advice. The worst part of it all is that sometimes the advice is coming from other poets, and they ought to know better.

Say nothing and just make music and you’ll find plenty to say.

If you are really strange you are always in enemy territory, and your constant concern is survival.

Scholars look for final truths they will never find. Creative writers concern themselves with possibilities that are always there to the receptive.

In truth, the writer’s problems are usually psychological, like everyone else’s.

You are someone and you have a right to your life.