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    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.

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  14  /  15  

The dancing pair that simply sought renown,By holding out to tire each other down;The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,While read more

The dancing pair that simply sought renown,By holding out to tire each other down;The swain mistrustless of his smutted face,While secret laughter titter'd round the place;The bashful virgin's side-long looks of love,The matrons glance that would those looks reprove:These were thy charms, sweet village; sports like these,With sweet succession, taught e'en toil to please;These were thy bowers their cheerful influence shed,These were thy charms -- but all these charms are fled. - Deserted Village, The.

by Oliver Goldsmith Found in: Literature Quotes,
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  17  /  29  

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.

by George Age Found in: Literature Quotes,
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Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national read more

Just as it is true that a stream cannot rise above its source, so it is true that a national literature cannot rise above the moral level of the social conditions of the people from whom it derives its inspiration.

by James Connolly Found in: Literature Quotes,
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  15  /  25  

The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious read more

The poets did well to conjoin music and medicine, because the office of medicine is but to tune the curious harp of man's body.

by Francis Bacon Found in: Literature Quotes,
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  21  /  20  

Literary Men are . . . a perpetual priesthood.

Literary Men are . . . a perpetual priesthood.

by Thomas Carlyle Found in: Literature Quotes,
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  23  /  28  

For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on read more

For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on the page.rn

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  33  /  38  

Poetry is life distilled.

Poetry is life distilled.

by Gwendolyn Brooks Found in: Literature Quotes,
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You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the read more

You, the Spirit of the Settlement! ... Not understand that America is God's crucible, the great melting-pot where all the races of Europe are melting and re-forming! Here, you stand, good folk, think I, when I see them at Ellis Island, here you stand in your fifty groups, with your fifty languages and histories, and your fifty blood hatreds and rivalries... - Melting Pot, The.

by Israel Zangwill Found in: Literature Quotes,
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The universe is made up of stories, not of atoms.

The universe is made up of stories, not of atoms.

by Muriel Rukeyser Found in: Literature Quotes,
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