William H. Gass said this quote

“ In general, I would think that at present prose writers are much in advance of the poets. In the old days, I read more poetry than prose, but now it is in prose where you find things being put together well, where there is great ambition, and equal talent. Poets have gotten so careless, it is a disgrace. You can’t pick up a page. All the words slide off. ”

Famous Quotes of William H. Gass

Famous quotes of William H. Gass from the classy quote

See all

Freud thought that a psychosis was a waking dream, and that poets were daydreamers too, but I wonder if the reverse is not as often true, and that madness is a fiction lived in like a rented house

~ William H. Gass

William H. Gass Madness Poetry Poets

It’s not the word made flesh we want in writing, in poetry and fiction, but the flesh made word

~ William H. Gass

William H. Gass Fiction Poetry Word Writing

For me, the short story is not a character sketch, a mouse trap, an epiphany, a slice of suburban life. It is the flowering of a symbol center. It is a poem grafted onto sturdier stock.

~ William H. Gass

William H. Gass Poetry Short Stories Short Story Symbols Writing

The true alchemists do not change lead into gold, they change the world into words.

~ William H. Gass

William H. Gass Alchemy Writing