There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the
literature of power. The function of the first is--to teach; the
function of the second is--to move, the first is a rudder, the
second an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive
understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to
the higher understanding or reason, but always through affections
of pleasure and sympathy.
- Thomas De Quincey ("The Opium Eater"),
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If thou shouldst never see my face again,Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayerThan this world dreams read more
If thou shouldst never see my face again,Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayerThan this world dreams of. - The Passing of Arthur.
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.
To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish read more
To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written.
If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no read more
If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty, he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet. A majority by definition, society thinks of itself as having other options than reading verses, no matter how well written. Its failure to do so results in its sinking to that level of locution at which society falls easy prey to a demagogue or a tyrant. This is society's own equivalent of oblivion.
Everywhere I go, I'm asked if the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.
Everywhere I go, I'm asked if the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.
There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army.
There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army.
A great literature is chiefly the product of inquiring minds in revolt against the immovable certainties of the nation.
A great literature is chiefly the product of inquiring minds in revolt against the immovable certainties of the nation.
Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of a man -- the biography of the man himself cannot be written.
Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of a man -- the biography of the man himself cannot be written.
Literature, the most seductive, the most deceiving, the most dangerous of professions.
Literature, the most seductive, the most deceiving, the most dangerous of professions.
