Famous John Ashbery Quotes

  • The summer demands and takes away too much. /But night, the reserved, the reticent, gives more than it takes – John Ashbery

    The summer demands and takes away too much. /But night, the reserved, the reticent, gives more than it takes– John Ashbery

  • It is the lumps and trialsThat tell us whether we shall be knownAnd whether our fate can be exemplary, like a star. – John Ashbery

    It is the lumps and trialsThat tell us whether we shall be knownAnd whether our fate can be exemplary, like a star.– John Ashbery

  • Walter Pater said that all the arts aspire to the condition of music, but I’ve always felt that music aspires to the condition of words. – John Ashbery

    Walter Pater said that all the arts aspire to the condition of music, but I’ve always felt that music aspires to the condition of words.– John Ashbery

  • The music brought us what it seemed / We had long desired, but in a form / so rarefied there was no emptiness of sensation – John Ashbery

    The music brought us what it seemed / We had long desired, but in a form / so rarefied there was no emptiness of sensation– John Ashbery

  • until only infinity remained of beauty – John Ashbery

    until only infinity remained of beauty– John Ashbery

  • Things can harden meaningfully in the moment of indecision – John Ashbery

    Things can harden meaningfully in the moment of indecision– John Ashbery