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Literature, the most seductive, the most deceiving, the most dangerous of professions.
Literature, the most seductive, the most deceiving, the most dangerous of professions.
The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth which it prevents you from read more
The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth which it prevents you from achieving.
Beneath the rule of men entirely great, / The pen is mightier than the sword.
Beneath the rule of men entirely great, / The pen is mightier than the sword.
In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the read more
In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write? - Nobel Lecture 2000.
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.
Nothing but blackness aboveAnd nothing that moves but the cars...God, if you wish for our love,Fling us a handful of read more
Nothing but blackness aboveAnd nothing that moves but the cars...God, if you wish for our love,Fling us a handful of stars! - Caliban in the Coal Mines.
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.
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.
