Stevie Smith

“I was much too far out all my life, And not waving but drowning.”

“I have a gentle nature, but I have a horror of being benevolent.”

“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it.”

“Death's a law, not a choice.”

“This Englishwoman is so refined / She has no bosom and no behind.”

“My Muse is a lady of mixed extravagances.”

“I love life. I am happy to be alive. But I do not believe in God.”

“The human creature is alone in his carapace. And when he dies, he is alone.”

“Oh Lion in a peculiar guise, Sharp Roman road to Paradise, Come eat me up, I'll pay thy toll With all my body and my soul.”

“Silence is the only Voice of our God.”

“Oh, the thoughts of man! How they crush and they crowd.”

“If I lie down, will you stay with me? Or will you go to sleep?”

“I am not a cold woman, but I am a lonely woman.”

“And in the hollow of his hand, that held my life, I saw the sand.”

“All human beings have a great deal of melancholy in their temperament.”

“Oh Christianity, Christianity, What have you done for me?”