I will not leave a corner of my consciousness covered up, but saturate myself with the strange and extraordinary new conditions of this life, and it will all refine itself into poetry later on.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a commitment to fully experiencing life, suggesting that all experiences, even the strange, will later yield artistic inspiration.
Isaac Rosenberg emphasizes the importance of embracing all aspects of life, especially the unusual and extraordinary, as a means of personal and artistic growth. He believes that by immersing oneself in the complexities of life, one can later transform these experiences into something beautiful, like poetry. This reflects the idea that art often emerges from the authentic and raw experiences of living.
In practice
In a creative writing workshop, the instructor could use this quote to inspire students to draw from their life experiences.
If, in 2014, we're still making 'white savior movies,' then it's just lazy and unfortunate. We've grown up as a country, and cinema should be able to reflect what's true. And what's true is that black people are the center of their own lives and should tell their own stories from their own perspectives.
An artist is someone who can hold two opposing viewpoints and still remain fully functional.
The whole history of baseball has the quality of mythology.
The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where did he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows. Taller than a house the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, at the very brink, in the darkness.
When you try to unravel something you've written, you belittle it in a way. It was created as a mystery.
To play the trumpet, you must train your lips for a long time. When I was twelve or thirteen I was a good player, but I lost the skill and now I play very badly. I do it every day even so. The reason is that I want to return to my childhood. For me, the trumpet is evidence of the sort of young man I was.
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