Thought for the Day

. . . I always give the same advice. I say, Do it the hard way,

and you'll always feel good about yourself. You write 

because you have to, and you get this unbelievable satisfaction

from doing it well. Try to live on that as long as you're able. 

Don't kiss anyone's ass. . . .

~ Poet Philip Levine

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Quoted from Mona Simpson, "Philip Levine, The Art of Poetry No. 39" (Interview),  The Paris Review, Summer 1988 

Philip Levine was 40 when his first collection was published. It is worth noting that he also says in the Paris Review interview, "But to be utterly honest, I think if something hadn't happened about then I might have become a very bitter man. It was getting to me. . . ."

Philip Levine at Library of Congress, Academy of Americana Poets, Blue Flower Arts, Modern American Poetry, Poetry Foundation