When I mourned my inability to finish any of my poems, he quoted Mallarmé to me:
“Poets don’t finish poems, they abandon them,” and then added, “Don’t worry, you’ll do okay, kid.”
I’d say, “How do you know?”
And he’d reply, “Because I know.”
— Just Kids (Patti Smith), Loc. 1650–2
Ahaha, well said!