To starve a child of the spell of the story, of the canter of the poem, oral or written, is a kind of living burial. It is to immure him in emptiness.
George SteinerRead
The most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Learning a beloved poem or piece of prose by heart is the highest form of appreciation.
George Steiner emphasizes the deep connection between a person and a piece of literary art when one commits it to memory. To learn something 'by heart' signifies an emotional and personal engagement with the text, transcending mere intellectual understanding, thus highlighting the transformative power of literature in human experience.
Themes
PoetryLiteratureMemoryAppreciationEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can inspire students in a poetry class to memorize their favorite poems.
More from George Steiner
All quotes →Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.
George SteinerRead
I have every reason to believe that an individual man or woman fluent in several tongues seduces, possesses, remembers differently according to his or her use of the relevant language.
George SteinerRead
It took 10 months for me to learn to tie a lace; I must have howled with rage and frustration. But one day I could tie my laces. That no one can take from you. I profoundly distrust the pedagogy of ease.
George SteinerRead
The letter kills the spirit. The written text is mute in the face of responding challenge. It does not admit of inward growth and correction. Text subverts the absolutely vital role of memory.
George SteinerRead
Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it is the occasion for our cleverness fills me with baffled bitterness and anger.
George SteinerRead
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