Ezra Pound

“It is better to present one Image in a lifetime than to produce voluminous works.”

“The Image is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.”

“An 'epic' is a poem including history.”

“The temple is holy because it is not for sale.”

“Genius... is the capacity to see ten things where the ordinary man sees one.”

“The natural object is always the adequate symbol.”

“What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross.”

“If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good.”

“Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance... poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music.”

“Wars are made to make debt.”

“The artist is always beginning.”

“Literature is news that STAYS news.”

“Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.”

“A man's paradise is his own good nature.”

“Good writers are those who keep the language efficient. That is to say, keep it accurate, keep it clear.”

“A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules... It is classic because of a certain eternal and irrepressible freshness.”

“Man reading should be man intensely alive. The book should be a ball of light in one's hand.”

“Utter originality is, of course, out of the question.”

“The technique of infamy is to start two lies at once and get people arguing heatedly over which is true.”

“A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.”