Marianne Moore

"Self-reliance is like a uniform: each man must cut his own."

"I study the lives of great men and famous women."

"There is a feeling of power in being feared."

"Nothing is so good as it seems beforehand."

"Commerce is better than conquest."

"Blessed is the man who does not read newspapers."

"I will not be as these are."

"The poet strives to express universal truths about life."

"Restraint is the mark of true elegance."

"A writer's creation reflects the writer's character."

"Language is a conspiracy against the mind."

"There is something noble in the desire to be forgotten."

"The fact of being human is a fact of consequence."

"Precision is a virtue we are not accustomed to expect in conversation."

"No subject is tedious to one who pursues it enthusiastically."

"I should like to be a writer."

"The battle of being against non-being is constant."

"I wonder if writers are made or born."

"Excess is the object of the rules which I lay down."

"I prefer to think of myself as a poet."

"There is nothing that is out of the question."

"Ideas are dangerous things."

"The eye is not an instrument of much use in a study of literature."

"Kindness is very important."

"Every reflection has the power to transform."

"Nothing is accomplished by force unless it is backed by tenderness."

"Contentment is a state of mind that must be cultivated."

"To be practical is to be beautiful."

"I am not any of the people I admire most."

"One cannot help respecting the person who is truthful."