I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of mimicry. Norman MacCaig inventionmimicrypower Change image and share on social
However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry in him or her, to offer them help is like offering a propeller to a bird. Norman MacCaig birdlearnoffer Change image and share on social
Anybody who writes doesn't like to be misunderstood. Norman MacCaig misunderstandwrite Change image and share on social
A terrible thing about getting oldish is that your friends start dying, and in the last ten years I have lost seven or eight of my closest. Norman MacCaig closediefriend Change image and share on social
I used to have a great love for Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, the big boys of the last century. Norman MacCaig bigboycentury Change image and share on social
In fact a lot of them I think are absolute baloney. Those Charles Olsens and people like that. At first I was interested in seeing what they were up to, what they were doing, why they were doing it. They never moved me in the way that one is moved by true poetry. Norman MacCaig absolutebaloneycharle share on social
And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so. Norman MacCaig poetryquestionteach Change image and share on social
And it's impossible for me to read Henry James. Norman MacCaig henryimpossiblejame Change image and share on social
There are some friends you don't meet for twenty years and when you meet them again it's as if no twenty years has happened - you're lucky when that happens. I feel the same about books. Norman MacCaig bookfeelfriend Change image and share on social
I'm very gregarious, but I love being in the hills on my own. Norman MacCaig gregarioushilllove Change image and share on social
