When I write, I'm not trying to be funny. It's the way I look at the world. Billy Collins funnyworldwrite Change image and share on social
The poets who have written the best poems about war seem to be the poets whose countries have experienced an invasion or vicious dictatorships. Billy Collins countrydictatorshipexperience Change image and share on social
I did try to write stories in college because I was interested in writing, and I was interested in the sound of language, but I was just no good at narrative and at fiction. Billy Collins collegefictiongood Change image and share on social
I'm all for poetry catching up with technology, and just as there are iTunes, I think we should have iPoems. I mean, people should be able to walk around with their earbuds in and listening to poems on their iPod. Billy Collins catchearbudsipod share on social
I'm going through life's cycles at an alarmingly fast pace, but my persona has a Peter Pan quality: he doesn't age. Billy Collins agealarminglycycle Change image and share on social
We love, you know, children love the ingredients of poetry. And then they go into this tunnel that we call adolescence, and when they come out of it, they hate poetry. Billy Collins adolescencecallchild Change image and share on social
Listeners are kind of ambushed... if a poem just happens to be said when they're listening to the radio. The listener doesn't have time to deploy what I call their 'poetry deflector shields' that were installed in high school - there's little time to resist the poem. Billy Collins ambushcalldeflector share on social
I'm not a claustrophobe, but you don't need to be to feel claustrophobic inside an MRI. It's like being buried alive. Billy Collins aliveburyclaustrophobe Change image and share on social
When I discovered the lyric poem, that advanced not by narrative steps but by blocks and layers of imagery, I said, 'Gee, I probably could do that. So let me try that.' Billy Collins advanceblockdiscover Change image and share on social
It's an important social duty to spread the word of English to people whose livelihoods depend on knowing the language. Billy Collins dependdutyenglish Change image and share on social
