Selected Prose, Daybooks, and Papers Quotes

“I think always about the thing in which we are. Among the things in it is force, power. It is not enough to say that we like it or that we do not like it. It is here, we must first talk about it. We are not shoppers—or we are not first of all shoppers; it is not enough to say that we like or we do not like—”
― George Oppen, Selected Prose, Daybooks, and Papers

“They used to advise young men to avoid gambling, drink, and women. And they were probably right in their time. But the single most important thing in the world today is not to read The New Yorker.”
― George Oppen, Selected Prose, Daybooks, and Papers