388 Quotes by Wallace Stevens

The whole race is a poet that writes down / The eccentric propositions of its fate.

Beneath every no lays a passion for yes that had never been broken.

After the final no there comes a yes and on that yes the future of the world depends.

I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections Or the beauty of innuendos The blackbird whistling Or just after.

Intolerance respecting other people’s religion is toleration itself in comparison with intolerance respecting other people’s art.

Children picking up our bones Will never know that these were once As quick as foxes on the hill;.

The genuine artist is never ‘true to life.’ He sees what is real, but not as we are normally aware of it. We do not go storming through life like actors in a play. Art is never real life.

One must have a mind of winter.

Complacencies of the peignoir, and late Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair. And the green freedom of a cockatoo Upon a rug mingle to dissipate The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.