Hans Christian Andersen Quotes

I would feel dead if I didn't have the ability periodically to put my world in order with a poem. I think to be inarticulate is a great suffering, and is especially so to anyone who has a certain knack for poetry.

A wise man should not divulge the formula of a medicine which he has well prepared; an act of charity which he has performed; domestic conflicts; private affairs with his wife; poorly prepared food he may have been offered; or slang he may have heard.

Eloquence is heard; poetry is overheard ... All poetry is of the nature of the soliloquy.

The wise do not investigate such silliness.

The wise man knows when to keep silent. Only the fool tells all he knows.

Fools give you reasons, wise men never try.

Too many poets write poems which are only difficult on the surface, difficult because the dramatic situation is easily misunderstood. It's not difficult to write poems that are misunderstood. A drunk, a three-year-old-they are easily misunderstood. What is difficult is being clear and mysterious at the same time. The dramatic situation needs to be as clear in a poem as it is in a piece of good journalism. The why is part of the mystery, but the who, what, where, and when should all be understood.

The over curious are not over wise.

Fools talk, cowards are silent, wise men listen.

Poets, when they write of love, give themselves and everyone else away!

There is some reason to believe that when a man does not write his poetry it escapes by other vents through him, instead of the one vent of writing; clings to his form and manners, whilst poets have often nothing poetical about them except their verses.

It is the unspecified 'you' of modern love poems that I am mostly concerned with here. At least, the addressee is commonly a lover, and the very fact that the name is withheld is offered as a guarantee of the closeness and significance of the relationship.

Writing means revealing oneself to excess.

The wise hand does not all the tongue dictates.

What good is power when you're too wise to use it?

She was not too young to be wise, but she was too young to know that wisdom shouldn't be spoken aloud when you are happy.

The wiser a man is, the less talkative will he be.

Is it possible to write a poem or are these words just screams of outlaws exiled to the desert?

The wise man tells not what he knows. It is not prudent to sport with one's head by revealing the king's secrets.

But writing poems and letters doesn't seem to do much good.

As I slowly grow wise I briskly grow cautious.

Silence is the best answer to a fool.

Someone Should Write Me a Love Poem but I'm Stuck Doing It Myself