The most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital.
George SteinerRead
To starve a child of the spell of the story, of the canter of the poem, oral or written, is a kind of living burial. It is to immure him in emptiness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Stories and poetry are essential for a child's development; depriving them of these experiences stifles their growth.
In this quote, George Steiner emphasizes the vital role that storytelling and poetry play in a child's life. He suggests that to withhold these forms of expression and imagination from a child is akin to burying them alive, as it deprives them of the richness and vibrancy that literature offers, leading to a sense of emptiness and stunted emotional and intellectual growth.
Themes
StorytellingPoetryEducationChild DevelopmentImagination
In practice
Example use cases
During a parent-teacher meeting, a teacher could quote this to emphasize the importance of reading to children at home.
More from George Steiner
All quotes →Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.
George SteinerRead
I have every reason to believe that an individual man or woman fluent in several tongues seduces, possesses, remembers differently according to his or her use of the relevant language.
George SteinerRead
It took 10 months for me to learn to tie a lace; I must have howled with rage and frustration. But one day I could tie my laces. That no one can take from you. I profoundly distrust the pedagogy of ease.
George SteinerRead
The letter kills the spirit. The written text is mute in the face of responding challenge. It does not admit of inward growth and correction. Text subverts the absolutely vital role of memory.
George SteinerRead
Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it is the occasion for our cleverness fills me with baffled bitterness and anger.
George SteinerRead
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