Billy Collins Quotes
Poems, for me, begin as a social engagement. I want to establish a kind of sociability or even hospitality at the beginning of a poem. The title and the first few lines are a kind of welcome mat where I am inviting the reader inside.

Quotes to Explore
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The story was such that I couldn't make a graceful ending and then make a graceful new beginning. I could have, but I didn't want to. So, it isn't the most graceful way of writing a story. This new story is, I think, is pretty good stuff. I'm pleased with it anyway.
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I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want.
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Even in the beginning, when we knew there was a legal argument about how much our song sounds like his song, as one songwriter to another, I wasn't sure that Cat Stevens would take that as bad.
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I think what is happening is I think first of all there is confidence in the U.K. economy. We're in a German rather than a Greek position in international financial markets, which is very positive and keeps our debt service costs down, and we're also beginning to see real evidence of rebalancing.
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African Americans are one of the oldest ethnic groups in this country. We been here since the beginning. Before the beginning.
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He will be beginning a brand new chapter in the Michael Jackson legend.
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I started to think about what drives innovation and what its social significance might be. The next step was to think innovators are taking a leap into the unknown. That led me to the thought that it is also a source of fun and employee engagement.
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Simple peck-order bullying is only the beginning of the kind of hierarchical behavior that can lead to racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, classism, and all the other 'isms' that cause so much suffering in the world.
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The most difficult and complicated part of the writing process is the beginning.
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I've always had a 'Work hard, play hard' attitude to life - I still do - but sometimes you get involved in something that needs a calm, methodical approach.
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A lot of technologies in the world were unusual in the beginning, and became standard. That's the beauty of bottom-up entrepreneurship and innovations.
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From the very beginning, I envisioned success as selling enough books so I could keep getting published and continue to write what I wanted to without compromising.
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Maybe I was born to be a merchant, maybe it was fate. I don't know about that. But I know this for sure: I loved retail from the very beginning.
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If the angel Gabriel came to me and said, 'Look, I'm willing to take your soul now and give it back to you at any period of time in the history of the nation of Israel, from the very beginning to this very day' - I think I would not think of any other time except for when Moses brought down the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai.
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I was born in 1928 and by 1931 the Depression was beginning to mount.
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And, I may add, from what totally unexpected sources come many of those who from the comparatively modest beginning in the chorus rise to the heights of really great achievement in the theatrical profession.
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I never wanted a life of having a nice house, driving around, settling down.
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I know at the beginning of our careers, my wife and I were gut wrenchingly competitive.
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While I revel in the memories of my own Grammy moment, I also know how it feels to walk away empty-handed.
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I'm in love with you, Kylie." He looked almost embarrassed by the admission. He jumped up, took one step away, then swung around and faced her again. "I don't expect you to say it back and I don't think this will change your mind about anything. But you deserved to know. And I needed to tell you because.....I've never felt this way before-for anyone.
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I absolutely love my job. I feel so privileged: I get to travel the world, I get to witness history... and I'm constantly inspired by the different amazing characters I meet along the way.
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I'm not one of those who can listen to music and write. I need the door closed. Windows shut. Facing the wall. No birds tweeting, views of nature, and so forth.
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Poems, for me, begin as a social engagement. I want to establish a kind of sociability or even hospitality at the beginning of a poem. The title and the first few lines are a kind of welcome mat where I am inviting the reader inside.