When one cannot appraise out of one's own experience, the temptation to blunder is minimized, but even when one can, appraisal seems chiefly useful as appraisal of the appraiser.
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Other Quotes by "Marianne Moore"

My father used to say superior people never make long visits.
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Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.
Tags: creating, real, poetry, art
Impatience is the mark of independence, not of bondage.
Tags: bondage, mark, independence
It is quite cruel that a poet cannot wander through his regions of enchantment without having a critic, forever, like the old man of the sea, upon his back.
Tags: old-man, like, man, sea
As contagion of sickness makes sickness, contagion of trust can make trust.
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