James Broughton Quotes

• It was as important to live poetically as to write poems.

  James Broughton

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• Work in the theater sharpened my verse and my cinema.

  James Broughton

• True delicacy is not a fragile thing.

  James Broughton

• Today the U.S. is farther from being nourished by poetry than it was a hundred years ago, when books of poems were best-sellers.

  James Broughton

• The quietest poetry can be an explosion of joy.

  James Broughton

• The only limits are, as always, those of vision.

  James Broughton

• The most astonishing joy is to receive from the muses the gift of a whole lyric.

  James Broughton

• The American public does not know poets exist.

  James Broughton

• Some artists shrink from self-awareness, fearing that it will destroy their unique gifts and even their desire to create. The truth of the matter is quite opposite.

  James Broughton

• Rarest of the real poets are born poets. They are the oddballs, not the professors.

  James Broughton

• Poetry for me is as much a spiritual practice as s*xual ecstasy is.

  James Broughton

• My major aim in writing is to set out flags and issue wake-up calls.

  James Broughton

• My films are an extension of my poetry, using the white screen like the white page to be filled with images.

  James Broughton

• My earliest poems sing of the absolute necessity of allowing love to invade and pervade one’s life. That can make the miracle happen in reality. Try it.

  James Broughton

• Most poets, like most people, try hard to be like someone they admire or they are possessed with an image of what they ought to be.

  James Broughton

• Most poets in their youth begin in adolescent sadness. I find it more rewarding to end in gladness.

  James Broughton

• In the world of poetry there are would-be poets, workshop poets, promising poets, lovesick poets, university poets, and a few real poets.

  James Broughton

• If you don’t fill your days with love, you are wasting your life.

  James Broughton

• If bitterness wants to get into the act, I offer it a cookie or a gumdrop.

  James Broughton

• I’m happy to report that my inner child is still ageless.

  James Broughton

James Broughton (39)

Birth:	10th November, 1913
Death:	17th May, 1999
Nationality:	American
Profession:	Filmmaker, Poet, Screenwriter

About

James Broughton was born in Modesto, California, USA. He was an American poet and poetic filmmaker. He was part of the San Francisco Renaissance, a precursor to the Beat poets. He spent his childhood in San Francisco and attended Stanford University until just before his class graduated in 1935. In 1945, he won the Alden Award given by the Stanford Dramatists' Alliance for his original screenplay "Summer Fury." He wrote several books include: A Long Undressing(poem), Seeing the Light, Song of the Godbody(poem), Making Light of it, Coming Unbuttoned(Nominations: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Autobiography), Little Sermons of the Big Joy(poem), and Packing Up for Paradise(Nominations: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Men's Poetry). He directed several films include: Mother's Day(Nominations: BAFTA Special Award), The Pleasure Garden(also screenwriter), The Bed, and Dreamwood(also screenwriter).

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Today's Anniversary - 21st November

Births

• 1870 - Alexander Berkman
• 1953 - Tina Brown
• 1844 - Ada Cambridge
• 1937 - Marlo Thomas
• 1943 - Philip Norman Bredesen Jr.

Deaths

• 1958 - Mel Ott
• 1959 - Max Baer
• 1999 - Quentin Crisp
• 1969 - Norman Lindsay
• 1926 - Joseph McKenna