"I see the shape of the poem before I start writing, and the writing is just the process of arriving at the shape." — Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet, born 1955
"The subject itself is of no account; what matters is the way it is presented." — Raoul Dufy, French painter, born 1877
"I don't follow any system. All the laws you can lay down are only so many props to be cast aside when the hour of creation arrives." — Raoul Dufy, French painter, born 1877
"Blue is the only color which maintains its own character in all its tones it will always stay blue; whereas yellow is blackened in its shades, and fades away when lightened; red when darkened becomes brown, and diluted with white is no longer red, but another color – pink." — Raoul Dufy, French painter, born 1877
"From the moment we walk out the door until we come back home, our sensibilities are so assaulted by the world that we have to soak up as much love as we can get, simply to arm ourselves." — Patty Duke, American actress, born 1946
"No matter what your laundry list of requirements in choosing a mate, there has to be an element of good luck and good fortune and good timing." — Patty Duke, American actress, born 1946
"Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes." — Alexandre Dumas, French playwright, born 1802
"When you compare the sorrows of real life to the pleasures of the imaginary one, you will never want to live again, only to dream forever." — Alexandre Dumas, French playwright, born 1802
"It is the way of weakened minds to see everything through a black cloud. The soul forms its own horizons; your soul is darkened, and consequently the sky of the future appears stormy and unpromising." — Alexandre Dumas, French playwright, born 1802
"There are two ways of seeing: with the body and with the soul. The body's sight can sometimes forget, but the soul remembers forever." — Alexandre Dumas, French playwright, born 1802
"The wind? I am the wind. The sea and the moon? I am the sea and the moon. Tears, pain, love, bird-flights? I am all of them. I dance what I am. Sin, prayer, flight, the light that never was on land or sea? I dance what I am." — Isadora Duncan, American dancer, born 1877
"There are joys so complete, so all perfect, that one should not survive them." — Isadora Duncan, American dancer, born 1877
"Most human beings today waste some 25 to 30 years of their lives before they break through the actual and conventional lies which surround them." — Isadora Duncan, American dancer, born 1877
"Before I was born my mother was in great agony of spirit and in a tragic situation. She could take no food except iced oysters and champagne. If people ask me when I began to dance, I reply: In my mother's womb, probably as a result of the oysters and Champagne." — Isadora Duncan, American dancer, born 1877