Raymond Carver Quotes

I'm happy to be a writer - of prose, poetry, every kind of writing. Every person in the world who isn't a recluse, hermit or mute uses words. I know of no other art form that we always use.

I'm more interested in writing than in performing.

At the end of the day, I want to be known for my ability to create life from words.

I was a serious poet for quite a while and had little notebooks filled with poetry.

Writing and cookery are just two different means of communication.

The exact day I became a poet was April 1, 1965, the day I bought my first typewriter.

I think poetry is as old as language, and both come out of the same thing - an effort to try to express something that is inexpressible.

I'm a writer. My job is to speak what - that which I think is true. If that bridges the gap, that's good. If it doesn't, that's too bad.

Working with language requires beauty for me.

There are poets and there are grownups.

When I want to read something nice, I sit down and write it myself.

If you don't see the book you want on the shelves, write it.

A poem is no place for an idea.

I want to communicate. I do; every artist does. That's why you're an artist.

If what you want to do is write, then it's madness not to do it.

One thing I really want to explore is writing.

The act of writing means you wish to communicate. Whether you're writing a memoir for yourself you put in a drawer, or you write a poem and you send it to a little magazine, or you write for publication, it always means - the form follows function.

Language is the machine of the poet.

There is no lighter burden, nor more agreeable, than a pen.

Not all poetry wants to be storytelling. And not all storytelling wants to be poetry. But great storytellers and great poets share something in common: They had something to say, and did.

Words, yes, formulating things, creating something from your heart, it is something very necessary, yes.

People do write books.

The few words of a title are the hardest words for any author to come up with.

I think the writing of literature should give pleasure. What else should it be about? It is not nuclear physics. It actually has to give pleasure or it is worth nothing.

Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes.