We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.
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Only the more rugged mortals should attempt to keep up with current literature.
Only the more rugged mortals should attempt to keep up with current literature.
Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.
Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.
A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.
A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.
An understanding heart is everything is a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to read more
An understanding heart is everything is a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.
University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.
The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen read more
The writing of a poem is like a child throwing stones into a mineshaft. You compose first, then you listen for the reverberation.
The fashion of liking Racine will pass away like that of coffee.
[Fr., La mode d'aimer Racine passera comme read more
The fashion of liking Racine will pass away like that of coffee.
[Fr., La mode d'aimer Racine passera comme la mode du cafe.]
There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the
literature of power. The function of the first is--to read more
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"),
