I love you. I love you, but I’m turning to my verses and my heart is closing like a fist.
Frank O'HaraRead
I don't ... like rhythm, assonance, all that stuff. You just go on your nerve. If someone's chasing you down the street with a knife you just run, you don't turn around and shout, 'Give it up! I was a track star for Mineola Prep.'
Interpretation
What this quote means
Emphasizes the instinctual and raw nature of artistic expression.
Frank O'Hara's quote suggests that true creativity comes from an instinctive, visceral response rather than a calculated or overly intellectual approach. He uses the metaphor of running from a threat to illustrate how in moments of urgency, one relies on pure instinct, reflecting that art should also be created in the spirit of spontaneity and raw emotion rather than being bogged down by technicalities or formalities.
Themes
ArtInstinctCreativityExpressionSpontaneity
In practice
Example use cases
In an art class, to encourage students to embrace their instincts while creating.
More from Frank O'Hara
All quotes →I wouldn’t want to be faster or greener than now if you were with me O you were the best of all my days!
Frank O'HaraRead
My heart is in my/ pocket. It is poems by Pierre Reverdy.
Frank O'HaraRead
I don't believe in god, so I don't have to make elaborately sounded structures. ... Pain always produces logic, which is very bad for you. ... As for measure and other technical apparatus, that's just common sense: if you're going to buy a pair of pants you want them to be tight enough so everyone will want to go to bed with you. There's nothing metaphysical about it.
Frank O'HaraRead
I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know there's a subway handy, or a record store or some other sign that people do not totally regret life. It's more important to confirm the least sincere. The clouds get enough attention as it is.
Frank O'HaraRead
After the first glass of vodka you can accept just about anything of life even your own mysteriousness you think it is nice that a box of matches is purple and brown and is called La Petite and comes from Sweden for they are words that you know and that is all you know words not their feelings or what they mean and you write because you know them not because you understand them because you don't you are stupid and lazy and will never be great but you do what you know because what else is there?
Frank O'HaraRead
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