When I come to England, I don't claim England; I don't own it. I feel a great kinship because of the literature and the landscape. I have great affection for Edward Thomas and Philip Larkin, but there's still this distance: looking on at what I'm admiring, separate from what I am. And that's OK.
Tags: looking, feel, i-am, great

Other Quotes by "Derek Walcott"

I think young writers ought to be heretical.
Tags: ought, i-think, young, think
I made a vow that I wouldn't be tempted by what could happen to me if I went to Europe. I thought, 'You could be absorbed in it - it's so seductive, you might lose your own search for identity.' Then, when I did finally go to Europe, I was able to resist it because I had established my own identity.
Tags: go, lose, you, me
I have to live, socially, in an almost unfinished society. Among the almost great, among the almost true, among the almost honest. That allows me to describe the anguish.
Tags: live, society, great, me
Like any art, what is the most imprisoning thing is also the most delivering thing. If an actor knows he only has 12 syllables in a line, the challenge is, 'How can I interpret the meaning and contain it without going one syllable over?'
Tags: only, like, challenge, art
I can't tear up a poem and be a sound bite for you. Why is that so hard for anyone to understand?
Tags: sound, hard, understand, you
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