Charles Simic quotes

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships. (Charles Simic)
If I believe in anything, it is in the dark night of the soul. Awe is my religion, and mystery is its church. View quote
Charles Simic
Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket. View quote
Charles Simic
Poetry: three mismatched shoes at the entrance of a dark alley. View quote
Charles Simic
Silence is the only language god speaks. View quote
Charles Simic
If the sky falls they shall have clouds for supper. View quote
Charles Simic
For Emily Dickinson every philosophical idea was a potential lover. Metaphysics is the realm of eternal seduction of the spirit by ideas. View quote
Charles Simic
He who cannot howl will not find his pack. View quote
Charles Simic
Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them. View quote
Charles Simic
One writes because one has been touched by the yearning for and the despair of ever touching the Other. View quote
Charles Simic
Insomnia is an all-night travel agency with posters advertising faraway places. (Charles Simic)
Only poetry can measure the distance between ourselves and the Other. View quote
Charles Simic
The ambition of much of today's literary theory seems to be to find ways to read literature without imagination. View quote
Charles Simic
I left parts of myself everywhere, The way absent-minded people leave Gloves and umbrellas Whose colors are sad from dispensing so much bad luck. View quote
Charles Simic
The stars know everything, So we try to read their minds. As distant as they are, We choose to whisper in their presence. View quote
Charles Simic
Should some senator or congressman have a sudden attack of conscience and blurt something out, "dark money” brings them to their senses and reminds them that their job is to facilitate the transfer of public funds into the pockets of the few and to not ask too many questions. View quote
Charles Simic
It's never been such a good time to be a crook. In what other country of laws does one enjoy so much freedom to defraud one's government and fellow citizens without having to worry about cops showing at the door? Small-time crooks sooner or later end up in the slammer, but our big-time con artists, as we've come to learn, are now regarded as the untouchables, too well-heeled and powerful to lock up. View quote
Charles Simic
Widespread ignorance bordering on idiocy is our new national goal. ... The ideal citizen of a politically corrupt state, such as the one we now have, is a gullible dolt unable to tell truth from bullshit. An educated, well-informed population, the kind that a functioning democracy requires, would be difficult to lie to, and could not be led by the nose by the various vested interests running amok in this country. View quote
Charles Simic
The poem I want to write is impossible. A stone that floats. View quote
Charles Simic
I slept little, read a lot, and fell in love frequently. View quote
Charles Simic
Poetry is an orphan of silence. (Charles Simic)