William Carlos Williams Quotes

A collection of quotes by William Carlos Williams.

William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) was an American poet and physician who made significant contributions to modernist poetry. Born in Rutherford, New Jersey, he pursued a career in medicine while also writing poetry. His works, including "The Red Wheelbarrow" and "This Is Just To Say," showcased his distinctive style characterized by plainspoken language and precise imagery. Williams, a leading figure of the Imagist movement, prioritized the use of everyday language and celebrated the beauty found in ordinary objects and experiences. His innovative approach to poetry had a profound influence on subsequent generations of poets.

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

William Carlos Williams

Beauty

Each speech having its own character, the poetry it engender

Each speech having its own character, the poetry it engenders will be peculiar to that speech also in its own intrinsic form. The effect is beauty, what in a single object resolves our complex feelings of propriety.

William Carlos Williams

Poetry Beauty Character

The better work men do is always done under stress and at gr

The better work men do is always done under stress and at great personal cost.

William Carlos Williams

Work

Their story, yours and mine -- it

Their story, yours and mine -- it

William Carlos Williams

Storytelling

But all art is sensual and poetry particularly so. It is dir

But all art is sensual and poetry particularly so. It is directly, that is, of the senses, and since the senses do not exist without an object for their employment all art is necessarily objective. It doesn't declaim or explain, it presents.

William Carlos Williams

Poetry

It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.

It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.

William Carlos Williams

Love

Empty pockets make empty heads.

Empty pockets make empty heads.

William Carlos Williams

Poverty