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The main modernist poets had written with assurance in their bones, as if they knew their worth and knew that posterity would one day know it, too. But the poets who came after them were less sure; they knew something had gone wrong.

— Joseph Epstein Who Killed Poetry? (1988)

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More quotes by Joseph Epstein

We use books like mirrors, gazing into them only to discover ourselves.

Of the seven deadly sins, only envy is no fun at all.

I believe it was Gayelord Hauser, the nutritionist, who said, "You are what you eat," but if you happen to be an intellectual, you are what you quote.

Now, for so many poets, critics, editors, small-press publishers, creative-writing programs, the chief thing seems to be keeping the patient alive.

Who Killed Poetry? (1988)

Even socialists, Marxists, and revolutionaries seem to have lost their belief in the future; the old shibboleths come rolling off their lips, but it is as if they cannot keep the scales from dropping from their eyes.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Joseph Epstein (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.