Marianne Moore

American poet (1887-1972)

Marianne Craig Moorewas an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for its formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit.

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About the Marianne Moore

Marianne Craig Moorewas an American modernist poet, critic, translator, and editor. Her poetry is noted for its formal innovation, precise diction, irony, and wit. In 1968, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Nobel Committee member Erik Lindegren.

22 Quotes by Marianne Moore

  1. 1.

    Psychology which explains everything explains nothing, and we are still in doubt.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  2. 2.

    If technique is of no interest to a writer, I doubt that the writer is an artist.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  3. 3.

    I see no reason for calling my work poetry except that there is no other category in which to put it.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  4. 4.

    Beauty is everlasting And dust is for a time.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  5. 5.

    In a poem the excitement has to maintain itself. I am governed by the pull of the sentence as the pull of a fabric is governed by gravity.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  6. 6.

    It is human nature to stand in the middle of a thing.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  7. 7.

    Any writer overwhelmingly honest about pleasing himself is almost sure to please others.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  8. 8.

    Superior people never make long visits.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  9. 9.

    It is quite cruel that a poet cannot wander through his regions of enchantment without having a critic, forever, like the old man of the sea, upon his back.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  10. 10.

    Poetry is all nouns and verbs.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  11. 11.

    Impatience is the mark of independence, not of bondage.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  12. 12.

    You’re not free until you’ve been made captive by supreme belief.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  13. 13.

    As contagion of sickness makes sickness, contagion of trust can make trust.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  14. 14.

    If you will tell me why the fen appears impassable, I then will tell you why I think that I can cross it if I try.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  15. 15.

    The passion for setting people right is in itself an afflictive disease.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  16. 16.

    Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  17. 17.

    My father used to say superior people never make long visits.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  18. 18.

    We are suffering from too much sarcasm.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  19. 19.

    There never was a war that was not inward.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  20. 20.

    A writer is unfair to himself when he is unable to be hard on himself.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  21. 21.

    The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence; not in silence, but restraint.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)

  22. 22.

    When one cannot appraise out of one’s own experience, the temptation to blunder is minimized, but even when one can, appraisal seems chiefly useful as appraisal of the appraiser.

    Marianne Moore

    American poet (1887-1972)