One does not become a guru by ...

One does not become a guru by accident.
 James Fenton

Quotes from the same author

When Mr Ackroyd says that in the 18th century, stranglers bit off the noses of their victims, I feel that he probably knows what he is talking about. I just wish he hadn't told me.
 James Fenton
The lullaby is the spell whereby the mother attempts to transform herself back from an ogre to a saint.
 James Fenton
When we study Shakespeare on the page, for academic purposes, we may require all kinds of help. Generally, we read him in modern spelling and with modern punctuation, and with notes. But any poetry that is performed - from song lyric to tragic speech - must make its point, as it were, without reference back.
 James Fenton
Free verse seemed democratic because it offered freedom of access to writers. And those who disdained free verse would always be open to accusations of elitism, mandarinism. Open form was like common ground on which all might graze their cattle - it was not to be closed in by usurping landlords.
 James Fenton
Oh let us not be condemned for what we are. It is enough to account for what we do.
 James Fenton