Philip Larkin Quotes

Top 100 wise famous quotes and sayings by Philip Larkin

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Philip Larkin Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Philip Larkin on Wise Famous Quotes.

Philip Larkin quotes: Poetry is nobody's business except the poet's, and everybody else can fuck off. Poetry is nobody's business except the poet's, and everybody else can fuck off.
Philip Larkin quotes: Everyone young going down the long slideTo happiness, endlessly. Everyone young going down the long slide
To happiness, endlessly.
Philip Larkin quotes: Any memory for the most part depending on chance. Any memory for the most part depending on chance.
Philip Larkin quotes: They fuck you up, your mum and dad.They may not mean to, but they do. They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
Philip Larkin quotes: It becomes still more difficult to find Words at once true and kind, Or not untrue and not unkind. It becomes still more difficult to find
Words at once true and kind,
Or not untrue and not unkind.
Philip Larkin quotes: A good meal can somewhat repair / The eatings of slight love A good meal can somewhat repair / The eatings of slight love
Philip Larkin quotes: Living in England has no such excuse:These are my customs and establishments ... Living in England has no such excuse:
These are my customs and establishments ...
Philip Larkin quotes: A writer can have only one language, if language is going to mean anything to him. A writer can have only one language, if language is going to mean anything to him.
Philip Larkin quotes: I never think of poetry or the poetry scene, only separate poems written by individuals. I never think of poetry or the poetry scene, only separate poems written by individuals.
Philip Larkin quotes: books are a load of crap books are a load of crap
Philip Larkin quotes: One of the great criticisms of poets of the past is that they said one thing and did another. One of the great criticisms of poets of the past is that they said one thing and did another.
Philip Larkin quotes: Something, like nothing, happens anywhere. Something, like nothing, happens anywhere.
Philip Larkin quotes: You can look out of your life like a train & see what you're heading for, but you can't stop the train. You can look out of your life like a train & see what you're heading for, but you can't stop the train.
Philip Larkin quotes: Since the majority of me Rejects the majority of you, Debating ends forthwith, and we Divide.' Philip Larkin Since the majority of me Rejects the majority of you, Debating ends forthwith, and we Divide.' Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin quotes: I have no enemies. But my friends don't like me. I have no enemies. But my friends don't like me.
Philip Larkin quotes: Depression is to me as daffodils were to Wordsworth. Depression is to me as daffodils were to Wordsworth.
Philip Larkin quotes: If you tell a novelist, 'Life's not like that', he has to do something about it. The poet simply replies, 'No, but I am.' If you tell a novelist, 'Life's not like that', he has to do something about it. The poet simply replies, 'No, but I am.'
Philip Larkin quotes: What will survive of us is love. What will survive of us is love.
Philip Larkin quotes: But superstition, like belief, must die ... But superstition, like belief, must die ...
Philip Larkin quotes: No one can tear your thread out of himself.No one can tie you down or set you free. No one can tear your thread out of himself.
No one can tie you down or set you free.
Philip Larkin quotes: The difficult part of loveIs being selfish enough ... The difficult part of love
Is being selfish enough ...
Philip Larkin quotes: I like spaghetti because you don't have to take your eyes off the book to pick about among it, it's all the same. I like spaghetti because you don't have to take your eyes off the book to pick about among it, it's all the same.
Philip Larkin quotes: If I looked into your face / expecting a word or a laugh on the old conditions, / it would not be a friend who met my eye If I looked into your face / expecting a word or a laugh on the old conditions, / it would not be a friend who met my eye
Philip Larkin quotes: Depression hangs over me as if I were Iceland. Depression hangs over me as if I were Iceland.
Philip Larkin quotes: One of the quainter quirks of life is that we shall never know who dies on the same day as we do ourselves. One of the quainter quirks of life is that we shall never know who dies on the same day as we do ourselves.
Philip Larkin quotes: I am always trying to 'preserve' things by getting other people to read what I have written, and feel what I felt. I am always trying to 'preserve' things by getting other people to read what I have written, and feel what I felt.
Philip Larkin quotes: I have wished you something None of the others would ... I have wished you something
None of the others would ...
Philip Larkin quotes: Clearly money has something to do with life ... Clearly money has something to do with life ...
Philip Larkin quotes: Get stewed:Books are a load of crap. Get stewed:Books are a load of crap.
Philip Larkin quotes: And the case of butterflies so rich it looks As if all summer settled there and died. And the case of butterflies so rich it looks As if all summer settled there and died.
Philip Larkin quotes: In times when nothing stood / but worsened, or grew strange / there was one constant good: / she did not change. In times when nothing stood / but worsened, or grew strange / there was one constant good: / she did not change.
Philip Larkin quotes: Novels are about other people and poems are about yourself Novels are about other people and poems are about yourself
Philip Larkin quotes: Life is slow dying. Life is slow dying.
Philip Larkin quotes: I don't think I write well - just better than anyone else, I don't think I write well - just better than anyone else,
Philip Larkin quotes: I'd like to think ... that people in pubs would talk about my poems I'd like to think ... that people in pubs would talk about my poems
Philip Larkin quotes: Sex means nothingjust the moment of ecstasy, that flares and dies in minutes. Sex means nothing
just the moment of ecstasy, that flares and dies in minutes.
Philip Larkin quotes: Parting is a training streamer,Lingering like leaves in autumn ... Parting is a training streamer,Lingering like leaves in autumn ...
Philip Larkin quotes: Time is the echo of an axeWithin a wood. Time is the echo of an axe
Within a wood.
Philip Larkin quotes: They both rise / Make for the Coke dispenser. 'What's he like? / Christ, I just told you. They both rise / Make for the Coke dispenser. 'What's he like? / Christ, I just told you.
Philip Larkin quotes: Boys dream of native girls who bring breadfruit,Whatever they are ... Boys dream of native girls who bring breadfruit,
Whatever they are ...
Philip Larkin quotes: Ought we to smile / Perhaps make friends? No: in the race for seats / You're best alone. Friendship is not worth while. Ought we to smile / Perhaps make friends? No: in the race for seats / You're best alone. Friendship is not worth while.
Philip Larkin quotes: Death is no different whined at than withstood. Death is no different whined at than withstood.
Philip Larkin quotes: Parents fuck you up. They don't mean to but they do. Parents fuck you up. They don't mean to but they do.
Philip Larkin quotes: All the unhurried day / Your mind lay open like a drawer of knives, All the unhurried day / Your mind lay open like a drawer of knives,
Philip Larkin quotes: I have started to say"A quarter of a century"Or "thirty years back"About my own life. I have started to say
"A quarter of a century"
Or "thirty years back"
About my own life.
Philip Larkin quotes: The chromatic scale is what you use to give the effect of drinking a quinine martini and having an enema simultaneously. The chromatic scale is what you use to give the effect of drinking a quinine martini and having an enema simultaneously.
Philip Larkin quotes: Home is so sad. It stays as it was left, / Shaped to the comfort of the last to go / As if to win them back Home is so sad. It stays as it was left, / Shaped to the comfort of the last to go / As if to win them back
Philip Larkin quotes: Novels seem to me to be richer, broader, deeper, more enjoyable than poems. Novels seem to me to be richer, broader, deeper, more enjoyable than poems.
Philip Larkin quotes: Most people know more as they get older:I give all that the cold shoulder. Most people know more as they get older:
I give all that the cold shoulder.
Philip Larkin quotes: Here is unfenced existence Here is unfenced existence
Philip Larkin quotes: Things are tougher than we are, justAs earth will always respondHowever we mess it about ... Things are tougher than we are, just
As earth will always respond
However we mess it about ...
Philip Larkin quotes: How little our careers express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up. It's sad, really. How little our careers express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up. It's sad, really.
Philip Larkin quotes: On me your voice falls as they say love should,Like an enormous yes. On me your voice falls as they say love should,
Like an enormous yes.
Philip Larkin quotes: It's easy to write when you've nothing to write about(That is, when you are young) ... It's easy to write when you've nothing to write about
(That is, when you are young) ...
Philip Larkin quotes: Why can't one stop being a son without becoming a father? Why can't one stop being a son without becoming a father?
Philip Larkin quotes: They say eyes clear with age. They say eyes clear with age.
Philip Larkin quotes: I wonder love can have already setIn dreams, when we've not metMore times than I can number on one hand. I wonder love can have already set
In dreams, when we've not met
More times than I can number on one hand.
Philip Larkin quotes: SEX is designed for people who like overcoming obstacles. SEX is designed for people who like overcoming obstacles.
Philip Larkin quotes: Walk with the deadFor fear of death. Walk with the dead
For fear of death.
Philip Larkin quotes: To put one brick upon another,Add a third, and then a fourth,Leaves no time to wonder whetherWhat you do has any worth. To put one brick upon another,
Add a third, and then a fourth,
Leaves no time to wonder whether
What you do has any worth.
Philip Larkin quotes: I think writing about unhappiness is probably the source of my popularity, if I have any-after all, most people are unhappy, don't you think? I think writing about unhappiness is probably the source of my popularity, if I have any-after all, most people are unhappy, don't you think?
Philip Larkin quotes: Give me a thrill, says the reader,Give me a kick;I don't care how you succeed, orWhat subject you pick. Give me a thrill, says the reader,
Give me a kick;
I don't care how you succeed, or
What subject you pick.
Philip Larkin quotes: Life and literature is a question of what one thrills to, and further than that no man shall ever go without putting his foot in a turd. Life and literature is a question of what one thrills to, and further than that no man shall ever go without putting his foot in a turd.
Philip Larkin quotes: I think that at the bottom of all art lies the impulse to preserve. I think that at the bottom of all art lies the impulse to preserve.
Philip Larkin quotes: A very crude difference between novels and poetry is that novels are about other people and poetry is about yourself. A very crude difference between novels and poetry is that novels are about other people and poetry is about yourself.
Philip Larkin quotes: Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, and don't have any kids yourself. Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, and don't have any kids yourself.
Philip Larkin quotes: Everyone should be forcibly transplanted to another continent from their family at the age of three. Everyone should be forcibly transplanted to another continent from their family at the age of three.
Philip Larkin quotes: JoyIs for the simple or the great to feel,Neither of which we are. Joy
Is for the simple or the great to feel,
Neither of which we are.
Philip Larkin quotes: My age fallen away like white swaddlingFloats in the middle distance, becomesAn inhabited cloud. My age fallen away like white swaddling
Floats in the middle distance, becomes
An inhabited cloud.
Philip Larkin quotes: Originality is being different from oneself, not others. Originality is being different from oneself, not others.
Philip Larkin quotes: In life, as in art, talking vitiates doing. In life, as in art, talking vitiates doing.
Philip Larkin quotes: Poetry should begin with emotion in the poet, and end with the same emotion in the reader. The poem is simply the instrument of transferance Poetry should begin with emotion in the poet, and end with the same emotion in the reader. The poem is simply the instrument of transferance
Philip Larkin quotes: The sight of the money depressed her, because in such small familiar things the foreign country around her was best expressed. The sight of the money depressed her, because in such small familiar things the foreign country around her was best expressed.
Philip Larkin quotes: Still, vicious or virtuous,Love suits most of us. Still, vicious or virtuous,
Love suits most of us.
Philip Larkin quotes: They mess you up, your Mom and Dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had. And add some extra, just for They mess you up, your Mom and Dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had. And add some extra, just for you
Philip Larkin quotes: Living toys are something novel,But it soon wears off somehow. Living toys are something novel,
But it soon wears off somehow.
Philip Larkin quotes: Many modern novels have a beginning, a muddle and an end. Many modern novels have a beginning, a muddle and an end.
Philip Larkin quotes: I wouldn't mind seeing China if I could come back the same day. I wouldn't mind seeing China if I could come back the same day.
Philip Larkin quotes: Poetry is emotional in nature and theatrical in operation. Poetry is emotional in nature and theatrical in operation.
Philip Larkin quotes: What are days for? Days are where we live. They come, they wake us Time and time over. Theyare to be happy in: Where can we live but days? What are days for? Days are where we live. They come, they wake us Time and time over. Theyare to be happy in: Where can we live but days?
Philip Larkin quotes: I am awakened each dawnIncreasingly to fear ... I am awakened each dawn
Increasingly to fear ...
Philip Larkin quotes: Only the young can be alone freely. The time is shorter now for company, And sitting by a lamp more often brings Not peace, but other things. Only the young can be alone freely. The time is shorter now for company, And sitting by a lamp more often brings Not peace, but other things.
Philip Larkin quotes: To start at a new place is always to feel incompetent & unwanted To start at a new place is always to feel incompetent & unwanted
Philip Larkin quotes: You can't put off being young until you retire. You can't put off being young until you retire.
Philip Larkin quotes: ...the breath that sharpens life is life itself... ...the breath that sharpens life is life itself...
Philip Larkin quotes: The only way to eliminate unemployment is to eliminate unemployment benefits. The only way to eliminate unemployment is to eliminate unemployment benefits.
Philip Larkin quotes: I had a moral tutor, but never saw him (the only words of his I remember are 'The three pleasures of life -drinking, smoking, and masturbation') I had a moral tutor, but never saw him (the only words of his I remember are 'The three pleasures of life -drinking, smoking, and masturbation')
Philip Larkin quotes: Here is an unfenced existance Here is an unfenced existance
Philip Larkin quotes: But O, Photography! as no art is, Faithful and disappointing! But O, Photography! as no art is,
Faithful and disappointing!
Philip Larkin quotes: There is bad in all good authors: what a pity the converse isn't true! There is bad in all good authors: what a pity the converse isn't true!
Philip Larkin quotes: I think we got much better poetry when it was all regarded as sinful or subversive, and you had to hide it under the cushion when somebody came in. I think we got much better poetry when it was all regarded as sinful or subversive, and you had to hide it under the cushion when somebody came in.
Philip Larkin quotes: Mother's electric blanket broke, & I have 'mended' it, so she may be practising suttee involuntarily before long. Mother's electric blanket broke, & I have 'mended' it, so she may be practising suttee involuntarily before long.
Philip Larkin quotes: To write you must be warm, fed, loved and sober. To write you must be warm, fed, loved and sober.
Philip Larkin quotes: A good poem about failure is a success. A good poem about failure is a success.
Philip Larkin quotes: As a child, I thought I hated everybody, but when I grew up I realized it was just children I didn't like. As a child, I thought I hated everybody, but when I grew up I realized it was just children I didn't like.
Philip Larkin quotes: Here no elsewhere underwrites my existence. Here no elsewhere underwrites my existence.
Philip Larkin quotes: Life is first boredom, then fear, Life is first boredom, then fear,
Philip Larkin quotes: What will survive of us is love.- from A Writer What will survive of us is love.

- from A Writer
Philip Larkin quotes: Most things may never happen: this one will. Most things may never happen: this one will.
Philip Larkin quotes: Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth. Deprivation is for me what daffodils were for Wordsworth.

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