Degas: "Tinc una idea fantàstica per a un poema, però no soc capaç d'elaborar-la."

Mallarmé: "Estimat Edgar, els poemes no estan fets d'idees, estanfets de paraules."

Degas: "I have a wonderful idea for a poem but I can't seem to work it out."

Mallarmé: "My dear Edgar, poems are not made with ideas, they are made with words."

Extret de The Craftsman, Richard Sennett, p. 119