Poets are being pursued by the philosophers today, out of the poverty of philosophy. God damn it, you might think a man had no business to be writing, to be a poet unless some philosophic stinker gave him permission.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
For the beginning is assuredly the end- since we know nothing, pure and simple, beyond our own complexities.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that the start and finish of our understanding are intertwined with the complexities of our existence.
William Carlos Williams highlights the idea that our comprehension of life is limited to the complexities we embody. The beginning and end are interconnected, suggesting that our awareness of life is shaped by the intricacies of our personal experiences and uncertainties. Essentially, it reflects on the paradox of knowledge, where knowing little allows us to comprehend the bigger picture of existence through our own complexity.
Themes
KnowledgeComplexityUnderstandingLifePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophical discussion about the nature of existence.
More from William Carlos Williams
All quotes βIt was the love of love, the love of swallows up all else, a grateful love, a love of natural, of people, of animals, a love ingengering gentleness and goodness that moved meand that I saw in you
William Carlos WilliamsRead
O frost bitten blossoms, That are unfolding your wings From out the envious black branches. Bloom quickly and make much of the sunshine. The twigs conspire against you! Hear hem! They hold you from behind.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
No opinion can be trusted; even the facts may be nothing but a printer's error.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
It is almost impossible to state what one in fact believes, because it is almost impossible to hold a belief and to define it at the same time.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
Death will be too late to bring us aid.
William Carlos WilliamsRead
Similar quotes
I'm not good at finding 'encouraging' features in American culture. I doubt that aesthetic literacy has much of a future here.
Philip RothRead
Gradually, ... the aspect of science as knowledge is being thrust into the background by the aspect of science as the power of manipulating nature. It is because science gives us the power of manipulating nature that it has more social importance than art. Science as the pursuit of truth is the equal, but not the superior, of art. Science as a technique, though it may have little intrinsic value, has a practical importance to which art cannot aspire.
Bertrand RussellRead
A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.
Francis BaconRead
The human mind is impelled to action, or held in rest by some power, over which the mind itself has no control.
Abraham LincolnRead
To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.
Isaac AsimovRead
When it's better for everyone, it's better for everyone.
Eleanor RooseveltRead