Quotes by John Ciardi

About John Ciardi:

John Anthony Ciardi is perhaps best measured through the younger poets whom he influenced as a teacher and as editor of the Saturday Review.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea.

John Ciardi

He had his choice, and he liked the worst.

John Ciardi

And the time sundials tell May be minutes and hours. But it may just as well Be seconds and sparkles, or seasons and flowers. No, I don't think of time as just minutes and hours. Time can be heartbeats, or bird songs, or miles, Or waves on a beach, o...

John Ciardi

I have one head that wants to be good, And one that wants to be bad. And always, as soon as I get up, One of my heads is sad.

John Ciardi

It is easy enough to praise men for the courage of their convictions. I wish I could teach the sad young of this mealy generation the courage of their confusions.

John Ciardi

Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to do but keep his house open to hope.

John Ciardi

A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea.

John Ciardi

Intelligence recognizes what has happened. Genius recognizes what will happen.

John Ciardi

Love is the word used to label the sexual excitement of the young, the habituation of the middle-aged, and the mutual dependence of the old.

John Ciardi

A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in the students.

John Ciardi

The day will happen whether or not you get up.

John Ciardi

Written by a sponge dipped in warm milk and sprinkled with sugar.

John Ciardi

The reader deserves an honest opinion. If he doesn't deserve it, give it to him anyhow.

John Ciardi

Nothing goes further toward a man's liberation than the act of surviving his need for character.

John Ciardi

Every game ever invented by mankind, is a way of making things hard for the fun of it!

John Ciardi

A dollar saved is a quarter earned.

John Ciardi

A neighborhood is a residential area that is changing for the worse.

John Ciardi

The classroom should be an entrance into the world, not an escape from it.

John Ciardi

The Constitution gives every American the inalienable right to make a damn fool of himself.

John Ciardi

There is nothing wrong with sobriety in moderation.

John Ciardi

Author Bio

  • NameJohn Ciardi
  • DescriptionAmerican poet, professor, translator
  • BornJune 24, 1916
  • DiedMarch 30, 1986
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionLinguist; Poet; Translator; Writer
  • WorksThe Divine Comedy
  • AwardsRome Prize; Air Medal