“Poets are always taking the weather so personally. They're always sticking their emotions in things that have no emotions.”

“Teddy looked at him directly for the first time.Are you a poet?' he asked.A poet?' Nicholson said. 'Lord, no. Alas, no. Why do you ask?'I don't know. Poets are always taking the weather so personally. They're always sticking their emotions in things that have no emotions.' "- Teddy and Nicholson in "Teddy" (Nine Stories)”

“They're not. That's partly what's so awful. I mean they're not real poets. They're just people that write poems that get published and anthologized all over the place but they're not poets.”

“They're just people that write poems that get published and anthologized all over the place but they're not poets.”

“God damn it," he said, "there are nice things in the world- and I mean nice things. We're all such morons to get so sidetracked. Always, always referring every goddam thing that happens right back to our lousy little egos.”

“Always, always, always referring every goddam thing that happens right back to our lousy little egos.”

“Take most people, they're crazy about cars. They worry if they get a little scratch on them, and they're always talking about how many miles they get to a gallon, and if they get a brand-new car already they start thinking about trading it in for one that's even newer. I don't even like old cars. I mean they don't even interest me. I'd rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake.”