151 Quotes by William Stafford

I'll be Pavlov, you be the dog.

The signals we give-yes or no, or maybe-/should be clear/the darkness around us is deep.

A student brings something to discuss, saying, "I don't know whether this is really good, or whether I should throw it in the wastebasket." The assumption is that one or the other choice is the right move. No. Almost everything we say or think or do - or write - comes in that spacious human area bounded by something this side of the sublime and something above the unforgivable.

When you allow me to live with you, every glance at the world around you will be a sort of salvation.

A writer is someone who has found a process that will bring about new things.

Keep a journal, and don't assume that your work has to accomplish anything worthy: artists and peace-workers are in it for the long haul, and not to be judged by immediate results.

One way to find your place is like the rain, a million requests for lodging, one that wins, finds your cheek: you find your home.

My question is "when did other people give up the idea of being a poet?" You know, when we are kids we make up things, we write, and for me the puzzle is not that some people are still writing, the real question is why did the other people stop?

There are so many things admirable people do not understand.