Don Clifton Quotes

If you make a deal with a fool, don't be surprised when they act foolishly.

I find I don't learn a lot while I'm talking

don’t write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. I think most artists create art in order to explore, not to give the answers. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions.

Some clever children don’t discover how bright they are until after they’ve left school,’ continued Mr Holcombe, ‘and then spend the rest of their lives regretting the wasted years.

these hips are big hips. they need space to move around in. they don't fit into little petty places.

Don't be afraid of poetry.

if you make a deal with a fool, don’t be surprised when they act foolishly.

I find I don’t learn a lot while I’m talking,

children when they ask you why is your mama so funny say she is a poet she don't have no sense

Fathers don’t ask their children’s permission to marry. In any case, I’m sure they’ll be delighted.

Things don’t fall apart. Things hold. Lines connect in thin ways that last and last and lives become generations made out of pictures and words just kept.

I don’t think so,’ said Harry calmly. ‘You see, the problem with being a bully is that on the flipside of that particular coin, you’ll find the imprint of a coward.

own moral standards. It was just a pity that Major Fisher had no standards, and Don Pedro Martinez no morals.

I don’t write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. I think most artists create art in order to explore, not to give the answers. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions.” #LucilleClifton

As the wit W. C. Fields advised: 'If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. There is no point making a fool of yourself.' This advice is easy to give and difficult to put into practice, but as you build your strengths, sometimes making great progress, sometimes slipping back, take comfort from the fact that this is how a strong life is supposed to be lived.

Rapid learning offers another trace of talent. Sometimes a talent doesn't signal itself through yearning. For a myriad of reasons, although the talent exists within you, you don't hear its call. Instead, comparatively late in life, something sparks the talent, and it is the speed at which you learn a new skill that provides the telltale clue to the talent's presence and power.

Thus, the lesson we should draw from these people is not that each person's talents are infinitely malleable or that they can be anything they want to be if they just apply themselves. Rather, the lesson is that talents, like intelligence, are value neutral. If you want to change your life so that others may benefit from your strengths, then change your values. Don't waste time trying to change your talents.

As for those who think they don't like to read, well, I know they're making a mistake, just as all of us do when we try to judge ourselves. Now is the time to give reading a chance, for if you don't get the habit when you're young you may never get it. And if you don't get it, you may grow up to be just as dull as most adults are.

First, he became aware of it. Many of us don't seem able to take even this step. Second, and most significant, he chose not to focus on reinforcing its weaker threads. Instead, he did the exact opposite: He identified its strongest threads, wove in education and experience, and built them into the dominating strengths we see today.

You are so silly sometimes, Jess. I fell in love with you, and I don’t give a damn who your

Being unafraid isn’t what makes you brave, beautiful,” Luke said. “Being brave means you look that fear in the face and admit that it scares the shit out of you. But you don’t give up anyway.

What’s going on, Dash? With us?” “I don’t know. It’s more than I thought it would be.” He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “You kind of snuck up on me.” I smiled. “You snuck up on me too.

Criminy! Do you mean to tell me that the top man in the Empire would fold up and quit, just like that? Because somebody behind the scenes ordered him to?” “I’m afraid that is just what I do think.”  I shook my head. “Politics is a dirty game!”  “No,” Clifton answered insistently. “There is no such thing as a dirty game. But you sometimes run into dirty players.”  “I don’t see the difference.”  “There is a world of difference.

Since each person's talents are enduring, you should spend a great deal of time and money selecting people properly in the first place. This will help mitigate the 'I don't think I have the right talent for the role' problem. Since each person's talents are unique, you should focus performance by legislating outcomes rather than forcing each person into a stylistic mold. This means a strong emphasis on careful measurement of the right outcomes, and less on policies, procedures, and competencies. This will address the 'in my role I don't have any room to express my talents' problem.

Since the greatest room for each person's growth is in the areas of his greatest strength, you should focus your training time and money on educating him about his strengths and figuring out ways to build on these strengths rather than on remedially trying to plug his 'skill gaps.' You will find that this one shift in emphasis will pay huge dividends. In one fell swoop you will sidestep three potential pitfalls to building a strengths-based organization: the 'I don't have the skills and knowledge I need' problem, the 'I don't know what I'm best at' problem, and the 'my manager doesn't know what I'm best at' problem.

You hate me for her,” I whispered, sensing Dash behind me. “Yes.” “Fair enough.” I was the living, breathing reminder of our father’s adultery. I turned away from the photo. “I’m not my mother, but I loved her. I don’t agree with what she did, but she was my mom. Maybe one day you’ll see that I’m a victim here too.

For me, poetry is a way of living in the world. I think that I don't produce 'texts' and I don't do it to be studied. I do it, though, I do recognize the value of those things but for me poetry is a way of trying to express something that is very difficult to express. And it's a way of trying to come to peace with the world. The mistake that some teachers sometimes make is that they think that art and poetry they think it's about answers and it's not about that it's about questions. So you come to poetry not out of what you know but out of what you wonder. And everyone wonders something differently and at different times. It is a mistake in poetry----it is not a mistake to try to figure out the ways that it is crafted, but its crafting is not what it is.

Your weaknesses will never develop, while your strengths will develop infinitely

For the senior boys,” he turned his attention to the back of the hall, “you don’t have a moment to lose if you hope to be offered a place at the school of your first choice. Never settle for second best.

I don’t want another woman.” “You don’t?” Crash. My control shattered. I closed the distance between us, holding her gaze, willing my next words to sink in deep. “The only woman I want is you.

Are you a good man?” Luke stared down at me, his dark blue eyes unwavering. “If you don’t know the answer to that already, I guess I’ve got some work to do.” Damn. That was a great answer.

I only know the ache that I feel in my heart, my sense of loss. I don't know if you have a soul. I only know you are men of flesh and blood; and that blood will spill and flesh grow cold. I do not know if all cops are poets, but I know that all cops carry guns with triggers. And I know too how we are labeled. So in the name of Brother Clifton beware of the triggers; go home, keep cool, stay safe away from the sun. Forget him. When he was alive he was our hope, but why worry over a hope that's dead?

don’t

According to a Harvard study, your odds of being happy increase by 15% if a direct connection in your social network is happy. And if a friend of your direct connection is happy, the odds of you being happy increase by 10% — even if you don’t know or interact with this secondhand connection. So your friends’ friends have an impact on you and vice versa.

I don’t know,” sighed

At least it taught me a simple lesson: if you make a deal with a fool, don’t be surprised when they act foolishly.

If you want to change your life so that others may benefit from your strengths, then change your values. Don't waste time trying to change your talents.

 Public school superintendents and university presidents need to think beyond core curricula and their graduation rates. Students don’t want to merely graduate; they want an education that results in a good job.

I’m no expert, by far, but I know it will fade in time. Somehow the hurt transforms into valuable wisdom that you wouldn’t trade for the world. Don’t try to forget; it only prolongs the inevitable. Just accept.

For me, poetry is a way of living in the world. I think that I don't produce 'texts' and I don't do it to be studied. I do it, though, I do recognize the value of those things but for me poetry is a way of trying to express something that is very difficult to express. And it's a way of trying to come to peace with the world. The mistake teachers sometimes make is that they think that art and poetry they think it's about answers and it's not about that it's about questions. So you come to poetry not out of what you know but out of what you wonder. And everyone wonders something differently and at different times. It is a mistake in poetry----it is not a mistake to try to figure out the ways that it is crafted, but its crafting is not what it is

Anything is magic if you don't understand how it happens, and science if you do.

I don’t know what I have to give but…I’d like to be part of this.

We don’t need you.” “But we’ll have you” … “If you want this, we will have you.