A Quote by James Dickey

A poet trains himself to stand out in a storm and be struck by lightning. If he is lucky enough to be struck six times, he becomes immortal. Randall Jarrell said it and he's right.

James Dickey

Quote Topics

Becomes Enough Himself Immortal Lightning Lucky Out Poet Right Said Six Stand Storm Struck Times Trains

Quote Author

James Dickey
American - Novelist
February 2, 1923 - January 19, 1997

A poet is a man who manages, in a lifetime of standing out in thunderstorms, to be struck by lightning five or six times.

Randall Jarrell

The young mouse's eyes snapped open, clear and bright. He swung the ancient sword high and struck at the giant adder. He struck for Redwall! He struck against evil! He struck for Martin! He struck for Log-a-Log and his shrews! He struck for dead Guosim! He struck as Methuselah would have wanted him to! He struck against Cluny the Scourge and tyranny! He struck out against Captain Snow's ridicule! He struck for the world of light and freedom! He struck until his paws ached and the sword fell from them!

Brian Jacques

A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning.

James Dickey

I'll be the first one to admit I had some bad at-bats. But I've had periods where I've struck out four times and then struck out four times again. It only takes one swing to get out of it.

Cody Bellinger

If you struck your mother or your father, it was punishable by death because you struck at the whole society. You struck at the morality of the society itself. This is what we have lost.

John Henrik Clarke

Mr. Vey, you cannot be stuffed into a locker without your consent." Dallstrom said, which may be the dumbest thing ever said in a school. "You should have resisted. That's like blaming someone who was struck by lightning for getting in the way.

Richard Paul Evans

Struck by lightning! Struck by lightning!

J. R. R. Tolkien

I was nearly struck by lightning on an excavation in Turkey.

Mary Beard

I would think I drive most hitting coaches crazy. During one single at-bat I used six different stances on six pitches. Oh yeah, I also struck out. So what do I know?

John Kruk

The one thing that struck me right off the bat was what Donald Trump said about Benghazi.There is this view out there that [Hillary Clinton] lied about what caused the attack, that she said it was the video.

Michael Morell

Rochester: "I am no better than the old lightning-struck chestnut-tree in Thornfield orchard…And what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?" Jane: "You are no ruin sir - no lighting-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not, because they take delight in your bountiful shadow; and as they grow they will lean towards you, and wind round you, because your strength offers them so safe a prop.

Charlotte Bronte

Life, struck sharp on death, Makes awful lightning.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Time passes by like lightning. Before you know it you're struck down.

Billie Joe Armstrong

His whole aspect was that of a man who has unexpectedly been struck by lightning.

P. G. Wodehouse

The clock tick-tocked, solemn and profound. It might have been the dry pulse of the decaying house itself, after a while it whirred and cleared its throat and struck six times.