When in public poetry should take off its clothes and wave to the nearest person in sight; it should be seen in the company of thieves and lovers rather than that of journalists and publishers. Brian Patten More Quotes by Brian Patten More Quotes From Brian Patten Through silence only the good messages go unheard. Brian Patten unheard silence messages On sighting mathematicians poetry should unhook the algebra from their minds and replace it with poetry; on sighting poets it should unhook poetry from their minds and replace it with algebra. Brian Patten mathematics poet mind Death is the only grammatically correct full stop. Brian Patten