5 Quotes by Stephen Kuusisto

I had to slow down. If I was going to listen to Venice properly I needed to hear the cadence of the place. I needed to stand still. <...> I thought of Whitman observing the parade of humanity with lewd concentration. Walt had a good ear. He loved opera and knew how to sit perfectly still.

We are writing in the age of stylish minimalism that in truth has become even more cautious because of word processing. Nowadays, creative writing students are underwriting rather than overdoing it.

My own hearing has become careful and algebraic.

Empathy, at its core, is knowing how not to hurt each other.

This is the thing... you give everything to raising a guide-dog puppy, but the everything comes from you spirit – it’s your happiness, your wakefulness, your love of life itself. Puppies take this into their hearts like vitamins.