e.e. cummings, the famous American poet, was invited to a university English class to answer the question: “What makes a great poet?” What follows is his response:

A lot of people think or believe or know they feel, but that’s thinking or believing or knowing, not feeling.


Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever you think or you believe or you know you’re a lot of other people, but the moment you feel, you’re nobody but yourself.


To be nobody — but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle that a human being can fight and never stop fighting.