Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
Wallace StevensRead
What our eyes behold may well be the text of life but one's meditations on the text and the disclosures of these meditations are no less a part of the structure of reality.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our perception of life shapes our reality, but our reflections on that perception hold equal significance.
In this quote, Wallace Stevens explores the relationship between our direct experiences and our contemplations of those experiences. He suggests that while what we see may constitute the narrative of our lives, the thoughts and meditations we have regarding those experiences also fundamentally contribute to how we perceive and understand reality. This implies that both tangible experiences and the subjective interpretations of those experiences play a crucial role in shaping our existence.
Themes
PerceptionRealityMeditationExperienceContemplation
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical debate about the nature of reality, one might quote this to illustrate the importance of individual perspective.
More from Wallace Stevens
All quotes →Most modern reproducers of life, even including the camera, really repudiate it. We gulp down evil, choke at good.
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After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
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Why should she give her bounty to the dead? What is divinity if it can come Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
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LIGHT FROM WITHIN my friend, cancer got you damn it: you had it beat for seven years at least. how did it come back? Why all that pain. again. and you, such a fighter you fought me over and over with tears and words and promises. you fought for me with honesty and a light so bright it hurts my heart. sweet lorna. at peace now finally no more battles, just light from within a flickering candle in the dark burns with you.
Wallace StevensRead
Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.
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