30+ John Berryman Quotes (Introspective, Experimental And Melancholy)

John Berryman was an American poet who was born in 1914 and died in 1972. He was a major figure in American poetry in the mid-20th century and is best known for his book of poetry, The Dream Songs. He was also a professor at the University of Minnesota and Harvard University.

Top 10 John Berryman Quotes

1. Bats have no bankers and they do not drink and cannot be arrested and pay no tax and, in general, bats have it made.
2. The artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business.
3. Praise will lead you to vanity, and blame will lead you to self-pity, and both are bad for writers.
4. I conclude now I have no inner resources, because I am heavy bored. Peoples bore me, literature bores me, especially great literature.
5. I didn't want to be like Yeats; I wanted to be Yeats.
6. something has been said for sobriety but very little.
7. One must be ruthless with one's own writing or someone else will be.
8. Literature bores me, especially great literature
9. This world is gradually becoming a place Where I do not care to be any more.
10. Them lady poets must not marry, pal.

John Berryman Short Quotes

• We must travel in the direction of our fear.
• Two daiquiris withdrew into a corner of a gorgeous room and one told the other a lie.
• Ever to confess you're bored means you have no Inner Resources.
• That is our ‘pointed task. Love & die.
• Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.
• I am so wise I had my mouth sewn shut.
• We are using our own skins for wallpaper and we cannot win.
• Wishin' was dyin' but I gotta make it all this way to that bed on these feet.
• I can offer you only: this world like a knife
• We have reason to be afraid. This is a terrible place.

John Berryman Famous Quotes And Sayings

So if I were talking to a young writer, I would recommend the cultivation of extreme indifference to both praise and blame because praise will lead you to vanity, and blame will lead you to self-pity, and both are bad for writers. — John Berryman

You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to achieve. Otherwise you're merely imitating yourself, going nowhere, because that's always easiest. — John Berryman

I think that what happens in my poetic work in the future will depend on my being knocked in the face, and thrown flat, and given cancer, and all kinds of other things short of senile dementia. — John Berryman

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and yearn — John Berryman

These Songs are not meant to be understood, you understand. They are only meant to terrify & comfort. — John Berryman

I do strongly feel that among the greatest pieces of luck for high achievement is ordeal. Certain great artists can make out without it, Titian and others, but mostly you need ordeal. My idea is this: the artist is extremely lucky who is presented with the worst possible ordeal which will not actually kill him. At that point, he's in business: Beethoven's deafness, Goya's deafness, Milton's blindness, that kind of thing. — John Berryman

There is no such thing as Freedom (though it is the most important condition of human life, after Humility, -which does not exist either). There is only Slavery (walls around one) and absence-of-Slavery (ability to walk in any direction, or to remain still). — John Berryman

Offering Dragons quarter is no good, they regrow all their parts and come on again. They have to be killed. — John Berryman

I cry. Evil dissolves, & love, like foam; that love. Prattle of children powers me home, my heart claps like the swan's under a frenzy of who love me & who shine. — John Berryman

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so. After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns, we ourselves flash and yearn, and moreover my mother told me as a boy (repeatedly) Ever to confess you're bored means you have no inner Resources. I conclude now I have no inner resources, because I am heavy bored. — John Berryman

Life Lessons by John Berryman

1. John Berryman's work emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and understanding one's own emotions. He encourages readers to confront their own inner turmoil and to confront difficult emotions in order to grow and develop.
2. His poetry often explores themes of mortality, love, and loss, and reminds us that life is fragile and unpredictable.
3. His work encourages us to appreciate the beauty of life and to live in the present moment, rather than worrying about the future or dwelling on the past.