Edith Sitwell quotes

Edith Sitwell was an English poet and literary figure, renowned for her modernist style and distinctive personality. Her innovative use of rhythm and imagery set her apart in 20th-century British literature. She became a leading voice among avant-garde poets and inspired future generations with her originality. Here are 66 of her quotes:

I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it. (Edith Sitwell)
My personal hobbies are reading, listening to music, and silence. View quote
Edith Sitwell
Good taste is the worst vice ever invented. View quote
Edith Sitwell
The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth. View quote
Edith Sitwell
The aim of flattery is to soothe and encourage us by assuring us of the truth of an opinion we have already formed about ourselves. View quote
Edith Sitwell
The trouble with most Englishwomen is that they will dress as if they had been a mouse in a previous incarnation... they do not want to attract attention. View quote
Edith Sitwell
I am an unpopular electric eel in a pool of catfish. View quote
Edith Sitwell
A great many people now reading and writing would be better employed keeping rabbits. View quote
Edith Sitwell
I wish the government would put a tax on pianos for the incompetent. View quote
Edith Sitwell
My poems are hymns of praise to the glory of life. View quote
Edith Sitwell
Hot water is my native element. I was in it as a baby, and I have never seemed to get out of it ever since. (Edith Sitwell)
Poetry is the deification of reality. View quote
Edith Sitwell
I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... But I am too busy thinking about myself. View quote
Edith Sitwell
Eccentricity is not, as some would believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd. View quote
Edith Sitwell
It is a part of the poet's work to show each man what he sees but does not know he sees. View quote
Edith Sitwell
I wouldn't dream of following a fashion... how could one be a different person every three months? View quote
Edith Sitwell
I'm afraid I'm being an awful nuisance. View quote
Edith Sitwell
Vulgarity is, in reality, nothing but a modern, chic, pert descendant of the goddess Dullness. View quote
Edith Sitwell
I have taken this step because I want the discipline, the fire and the authority of the Church. I am hopelessly unworthy of it, but I hope to become worthy. View quote
Edith Sitwell
I am one of those unhappy persons who inspire bores to the greatest flights of art. View quote
Edith Sitwell
Still falls the Rain - Dark as the world of man, black as our loss - Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails Upon the Cross. (Edith Sitwell)
Tall windows show Infinity; And, hard reality, The candles weep and pry and dance Like lives mocked at by Chance. The rooms are vast as Sleep within; When once I ventured in, Chill Silence, like a surging sea, Slowly enveloped me. View quote
Edith Sitwell
Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home. View quote
Edith Sitwell
Why not be oneself? That is the whole secret of a successful appearance. If one is a greyhound, why try to look like a Pekingese? View quote
Edith Sitwell
As for the usefulness of poetry, its uses are many. It is the deification of reality. It should make our days holy to us. The poet should speak to all men, for a moment, of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten. View quote
Edith Sitwell