The dark night of the soul is always three o’clock in the morning.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Adults Forget Childhood
One of the most obvious facts about grown-ups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Discontent in Prosperity
The people who live in a golden age usually go around complaining how yellow everything looks.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Modern Culture’s Poetry Gap
I think that one possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our intellectuals can’t read any poetry.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Happiness Through Struggle
Happiness is a by-product of function, purpose, and conflict; those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Academic Jargon Critique
An academic dialect is perfected when its terms are hard to understand and refer only to one another.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
The Peril of ‘Brother’
The most dangerous word in any human tongue is the word for brother. It’s inflammatory.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Questioning Morality
What we call ‘morals’ is simply blind obedience to words of command..
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Children’s Potential
If you want to see what children can do, you must stop giving them things.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution
Love and Loss
The way we love anything is to realize that it might be lost.
Randall Jarrell – Pictures from an Institution