The ocean and I have many pebbles To find and wash off and roll into shape. William Stafford More Quotes by William Stafford More Quotes From William Stafford When a goat likes a book, the whole book is gone, William Stafford goatsgonebook When William Stafford glancessalvationworld All still when summer is over stand shocks in the field, nothing left to whisper, not even good-bye, to the wind. After summer was over we knew winter would come: we knew silence would wait, tall, patient calm. William Stafford summerwinterwind An owl sound wandered along the road with me. I didn't hear it--I breathed it into my ears. William Stafford earssoundowl Security of character would be like a compass, you know? Other people may say that this way is north, or this way might be north. But the compass just says -- north. That's what we count on. William Stafford compassioncharacterpeople Literature is not a picture of life, but is a separate experience with its own kind of flow and enhancement. William Stafford enhancementflowliterature You can treat experience as a set of surprises on which to exercise your quirky self. William Stafford quirkyselfexercise If you can say it, it begins to exist. William Stafford ifs People wander about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. William Stafford journeyspiritualpeople 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. William Stafford teachingwritingmoving There are so many things admirable people do not understand. William Stafford admirablepeople Language can do what it can’t say. William Stafford languagecan-do 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. William Stafford assumingartistlong 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? William Stafford giving-uprealkids If you purify the pond, the lilies die William Stafford pondsliliesdies You can lie at a banquet but you have to be honest in the kitchen. William Stafford kitchenhonestlying A writer is someone who has found a process that will bring about new things. William Stafford processfoundwriting It is this impulse to change the quality of experience that I recognize as central to creation. . . . Out of all that could be done, you choose one thing. What that one thing is, nothing else can tell you--you come at it over unmarked snow. William Stafford qualitydonesnow Can injustice one way be corrected without the interim reaction that tries to impose injustice the other way? William Stafford injusticetryingway It is as if the ordinary language we use every day has a hidden set of signals, a kind of secret code. William Stafford usesecretordinary
