'A collected poems' is either a gravestone or a testimonial to survival.

- Al Purdy

Things were so bad we ate rabbits that neighbours had run over and gave to us because they knew we were broke.

- Al Purdy

For me, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man, or for flowers or beast or bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly and perfectly alive.

- Al Purdy

I was desperately unhappy trying to adjust to the world.

- Al Purdy

At a certain age you're always uncertain how other people will take you.

- Al Purdy

I started writing when I was about thirteen.

- Al Purdy

I don't think I do have a soul.

- Al Purdy

I'm not religious in any formal sense, not in any God sense.

- Al Purdy

In my own mind, I was sort of a desperate kid.

- Al Purdy