Skip to content

As a third generation American I grew up with the obsessive idea of personal liberty which engrosses all Americans except the oldest and richest families.

— Karl Shapiro The Poems of a Jew (1958)

Another quote →

Topics

Freedom

More quotes by Karl Shapiro

The public has an unusual relationship to the poet: It doesn't even know that he is there.

Whitman to me is the most fascinating of American poets.

Paris Review interview (1986)

The poet is in exile whether he is or he is not.

Paris Review interview (1986)

I feel that after working a long time, I’ve really learned how to do what I do. I enjoy it.

Paris Review interview (1986)

Writing, I crushed an insect with my nail
And thought nothing at all. A bit of wing
Caught my eye then, a gossamer so frail And exquisite, I saw in it a thing
That scorned the grossness of the thing I wrote.
It hung upon my finger like a sting.

All Karl Shapiro quotes →

You may also like

You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion.

Julian Assange

What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence?

Abraham Lincoln

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

There is no governor anywhere; you are all absolutely free. There is no restraint that cannot be escaped.

Robert Anton Wilson

Attribution

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