1
I was miserable, of course, for I was seventeen, and so I swung into action and wrote a poem, and it was miserable, for that's how I thought poetry worked: you digested experience and shat literature. [from "Mingus at the Showplace"]William Matthews
2
The first law of success ... is concentration: to bend all the energies to one point and to go directly to that point looking neither to the right nor the left.William Matthews
3
The difficulties hardships and trials of life the obstacles ... are positive blessings. They knit the muscles more firmly and teach self-reliance.William Matthews
4
One well-cultivated talent deepened and enlarged is worth one hundred shallow faculties.William Matthews