William Empson

“The machinations of ambiguity are among the very roots of poetry.”

“Life involves maintaining oneself between contradictions that can't be solved by analysis.”

“The central function of imaginative literature is to make you realize that other people act on moral convictions different from your own.”

“A poem, I have insisted, is a construct of meanings.”

“The object of life is not to be on the side of the angels, but to be where the angels are.”

“All the characters are on trial in a civilized society, and readers are the jury.”

“The arts are not a luxury but a necessity.”

“The Waste Land is I think the most important poem of the century.”

“It is a pleasure to be generous; it is a pleasure to be grateful.”

“The task of the critic is to see the work of art as it is, and this means seeing it in its historical context.”

“Ambiguity, in ordinary speech, means something very pronounced, and as a rule witty or deceitful.”

“Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills. It is not the effort nor the failure tires. The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.”

“Good prose is not something that can be taught by formula; it is the product of a clear mind and a sensitive ear.”