It is the unknown that excites the ardor of scholars, who, in the known alone, would shrivel up with boredom. – Wallace Stevens
To regard the imagination as metaphysics is to think of it as part of life, and to think of it as part of life is to realize the extent of artifice. We live in the mind. – Wallace Stevens
Intolerance respecting other peoples religion is toleration itself in comparison with intolerance respecting other peoples art. – Wallace Stevens
Most people read poetry listening for echoes because the echoes are familiar to them. They wade through it the way a boy wades through water, feeling with his toes for the bottom: The echoes are the bottom. – Wallace Stevens