A poem is a serious joke, a truth that has learned jujitsu. William Stafford More Quotes by William Stafford More Quotes From William Stafford Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music. William Stafford dance kids children The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can’t get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old. Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding. You don’t ever let go of the thread. ~ William Stafford ~ William Stafford hurt letting-go people Please think about this as you go on. Breathe on the world. Hold out your hands to it. When morning and evenings roll along, watch how they open and close, how they invite you to the long party that your life is. William Stafford party morning thinking The things you do not have to say make you rich. Saying things you do not have to say weakens your talk. Hearing things you do not need to hear dulls your hearing. And things you know before you hear them — those are you, those are why you are in the world. William Stafford hearing talking world I have woven a parachute out of everything broken. William Stafford not-giving-up thoughtful kindness There is no such thing as writer's block for writers whose standards are low enough. William Stafford block enough lows Everyone is born a poet - a person discovering the way words sound and work, caring and delighting in words. I just kept on doing what everyone starts out doing. The real question is: Why did other people stop? William Stafford caring real people You and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there, hidden; and there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says, that is what I say. William Stafford silence waiting rivers I embrace emerging experience, I participate in discovery. I am a butterfly. I am not a butterfly collector. I want the experience of the butterfly. William Stafford butterfly experience discovery Anyone who breathes is in the rhythm business. William Stafford rhythm breathe Writing itself is one of the great, free human activities. There is scope for individuality, and elation, and discovery. In writing, for the person who follows with trust and forgiveness what occurs to him, the world remains always ready and deep, an inexhaustible environment, with the combined vividness of an actuality and flexibility of a dream. Working back and forth between experience and thought, writers have more than space and time can offer. They have the whole unexplored realm of human vision. William Stafford space dream writing I heard a bird congratulating itself all day for being a jay. Nobody cared. But it was glad all over again, and said so, again. William Stafford heard said bird Ask Me Some time when the river is ice ask me mistakes I have made. Ask me whether what I have done is my life. Others have come in their slow way into my thought, and some have tried to help or to hurt: ask me what difference their strongest love or hate has made. I will listen to what you say. You and I can turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there, hidden; and there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says, that is what I say. William Stafford hate hurt mistake You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about William Stafford knows talking needs Once we have tasted far streams, touched the gold, found some limit beyond the waterfall, a season changes and we come back changed but safe, quiet, grateful. William Stafford grateful gold safe If you don't know the kind of person I am William Stafford stars missing home And the things you know before you hear them; these are you and the reason you are in the world. William Stafford reason knows world Wisdom is having things right in your life and knowing why. William Stafford learning wisdom life A speech is something you say so as to distract attention from what you do not say. William Stafford speech attention I have a feeling that art is something you do for yourself, and that any time you turn your decisions over to someone else you're postponing at best, your own development. The atmosphere of the workshop should be that of trying out one's own work and accepting the signals from others but not accepting the dictation of others because that is a violation of the spirit of art. Art can't be done by somebody else, it has got to be done by the artist. William Stafford decision teaching art
