John Keating > Quotes

“‎"So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”
― John Keating

“Carpe diem.Seize the day, boys.
Make your lives extraordinary”
― John Keating

“We don't read and write poetry because it's cute.”
― John Keating

“We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
― John Keating

“Believe it or not each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold, and die”
― John Keating

“I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world.”
― John Keating