Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation.
Walter BenjaminRead
The more circumspectly you delay writing down an idea, the more maturely developed it will be on surrendering itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Taking time to refine an idea before documenting it can lead to deeper insights.
Walter Benjamin suggests that when we postpone the act of writing down our ideas, we allow them to mature and develop into more thoughtful concepts. This delayed expression can enhance the quality and depth of our thoughts, resulting in a more polished and profound output when we finally commit them to paper.
Themes
IdeasReflectionMaturityWritingDevelopment
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop on creative writing, to encourage longer contemplation of thoughts before writing, you might say this quote to emphasize the importance of maturity in writing.
More from Walter Benjamin
All quotes →The illiterate of the future will not be the man who cannot read the alphabet, but the one who cannot take a photograph.
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If mythic violence is lawmaking, divine violence is law-destroying; if the former sets boundaries, the latter boundlessly destroys them; if mythic violence brings at once guilt and retribution, divine power only expiates; if the former threatens, the latter strikes; if the former is bloody, the latter is lethal without spilling blood
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Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.
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Nothing is poorer than a truth expressed as it was thought. Committed to writing in such cases, it is not even a bad photograph. Truth wants to be startled abruptly, at one stroke, from her self-immersion, whether by uproar, music or cries for help.
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I am unpacking my library. Yes I am. The books are not yet on the shelves, not yet touched by the mild boredom of order.
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