A poem should not mean but be.
Archibald MacleishRead
We have no choice but to be guilty. God is unthinkable if we are innocent.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that our human condition inevitably leads us to guilt, as innocence makes the concept of God unfathomable.
Archibald Macleish's quote indicates a profound philosophical stance on the nature of humanity and its relationship with the divine. It implies that guilt is an inherent part of the human experience, and without it, the notion of God becomes inconceivable. This reflects a deeper existential contemplation where innocence and guilt are intertwined, suggesting that our flaws and moral struggles shape our understanding of the divine.
Themes
GuiltInnocenceHuman ConditionPhilosophyGod
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about human flaws and moral philosophy.
More from Archibald Macleish
All quotes βTo see the earth as we now see it, small and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the unending night ~ brothers who see now they are truly brothers.
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Journalism is concerned with events, poetry with feelings. Journalism is concerned with the look of the world, poetry with the feel of the world.
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How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms, by truth when it is attacked by lies, by faith when it is attacked by authoritarian dogma. Always, in the final act, by determination and faith.
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Races didn't bother the Americans. They were something a lot better than any race. They were a People. They were the first self-constituted, self-declared, self-created People in the history of the world.
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The business of the law is to make sense of the confusion of what we call human life - to reduce it to order but at the same time to give it possibility, scope, even dignity.
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