And as we stray further from love, we multiply the words. Had we remained together we could have become a silence.
Yehuda AmichaiRead
I try to stay a civilian, to live as a human, not as a poet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a desire to live a simple, human life rather than being defined solely by one's artistic identity.
Yehuda Amichai expresses the tension between being an artist and living a grounded, ordinary life. By stating his intention to remain a 'civilian', he highlights the importance of maintaining human connections and experiences above the pressures that come with being a poet. This sentiment resonates with the idea that a person's value isnβt solely defined by their profession or artistic role, but rather their shared humanity.
Themes
HumanPoetLifeIdentityArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the balance between passion and practicality, you might quote this to emphasize the importance of staying grounded.
More from Yehuda Amichai
All quotes βSimilar quotes
All my life I have been acutely aware of a contradiction in the very nature of my existence. For forty-five years I struggled to resolve this dilemma by writing plays and novels. The more I wrote, the more I realized mere words were not enough. So I found another form of expression.
Yukio MishimaRead
It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the superfluous notes under the table.
Johannes BrahmsRead
... The 'cleverness' syndrome has taken the place of melody. It's like everyone has come down with this terrible disease in jazz....you are always expected to do your own material, which is a strange thing to do if you're a poor composer but a great player.
Keith JarrettRead
A dancer, if she is great, can give to the people something that they can carry with them forever. They can never forget it, and it has changed them, though they may never know it.
Isadora DuncanRead
Making a film that's supposed to be fun to watch is really hard - that's the weird irony of it.
Steven SoderberghRead
First, I do not sit down at my desk to put into verse something that is already clear in my mind. If it were clear in my mind, I should have no incentive or need to write about it. We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.
C. S. LewisRead