Wild Perfection (Stanley Kunitz)

Date May 24, 2008

“America, it’s true, either spoils you with success or withers you with neglect. What other morality has the artist but to endure? The only ones who survive, I think, beyond the equally destructive temptations of self-praise and self-pity, are those whose ultimate discontent is with themselves. The fiercest hearts are in love with a wild perfection.”

–James Wright quoting a letter from Stanley Kunitz
from a letter to James Dickey, 1958

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