Hesitancy is the surest destroyer of talent. One cannot be timorous and reticent, one must be original and loud. New metaphors, new rhythms, new expressions of emotion can only spring from unhindered gall. Nothing should interfere with that intuition--not the fear of appearing stupid, nor of offending somebody, nor jeopardizing publication, nor being trivial. The intuition must be as unhindered as a karate chop. Stephen Dobyns
About This Quote

When it comes to writing or performing, if you hesitate, you are less likely to be effective. The reason for this is that hesitation allows your mind to think about what you are doing and how it might look. It will allow the ideas inside of your head to form into something you can express, which means that whatever you write or perform is less likely to be good because you may have used unnecessary words or made the same statement twice.

Source: Best Words, Best Order: Essays On Poetry

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More Quotes By Stephen Dobyns
  1. One writes a poem when one is so taken up by an emotional concept that one is unable to remain silent.

  2. For the past thirty years or so, much American poetry has been marked by an earnestness that rejects the comic. This has nothing to do with seriousness. The comic can be very serious. The trouble with the earnest is that it seeks to be commended....

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