Maurice Ravel Quotes

I think it's good not to make demands on the reader too early. But as the poem goes on, I want the journey of the poem to lead into some interesting places.

One must do the same subject over again ten times, a hundred times. In art nothing must resemble an accident, not even movement.

A lot of the lyrical ideas do have a lot of meaning in a way, although it is somewhat abstracted.

I don't like poetry that just slaps violent words on a canvas, as it were.

To approach a poem as if it is a puzzle to be understood is to miss the point.

How does one happen to write a poem: where does it come from? That is the question asked by the psychologists or the geneticists of poetry.

I'd say people do need some help with poetry because I think poetry just helps takes us to places that Americans aren't always accustomed to going.

We don't analyze our lyrics.

I always try hard to arrange all media in a way so that it expresses what I want - this is not limited to one medium alone and varies from case to case.

If the audience knew what they wanted then they wouldn't be the audience, they would be the artist.

You don't take a photograph, you make it.

Sort of like, I have to make the Japanese lyrics really deep.

In general, my own experience of writing an adaptation of 'Evening' gave me a chance to get into different parts of the book.

One of the things I find very difficult about theatre is the repetition - that something can slide away from your original intentions.

As an artist, the most important thing and the most special thing is when your intention shines through on the work.

When I read 'Room,' I absolutely loved it, and I thought I knew how to make it.

Linda Svendsen's 'Marine Life' was important. I was nearly 22. Larry Mathews discussed the book in a creative writing class. We examined her stories, figured out how they worked.

'Trapped in the Closet' is pretty much forever. I've got a leash on this thing now. I'm going to walk it.

I think that Bob Dylan knows this more than all of us: you don't write the songs anyhow. So if you're lucky, you can keep the vehicle healthy and responsive over the years. If you're lucky, your own intentions have very little to do with this.

Themes only arise after a novel is written, and people begin to try to talk about it.

There was so much on 'Superstar' that we didn't intend. I mean, there were things that we did which were innovative, but some of them were forced on us because we couldn't get anybody to do the show. 'Evita' was much more sophisticated. That doesn't make it better, but it does make it different. We knew what we were doing.

In my experience, a novel is the culmination of various thoughts and impressions collected over time, until something comes along to give them a shape, to turn them into a story.

I doubt Picasso ever painted a picture in an hour, he took his time, looked at every detail and made sure it was perfect.

Usually, if I hear songs, I record it on a Voice Memo first. I have to perfect it. I'm a big fan of delivery, and I want to make sure you're saying it right. I'm like, 'This has to be perfect when I do this.'

Great films happen, and no one can make them on intention.