If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
William Butler YeatsRead
Out of Ireland have we come, great hatred, little room, maimed us at the start. I carry from my mother's womb a fanatic heart.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the deep-seated emotions and struggles stemming from the conflicts in Ireland, suggesting that one's identity is shaped by both heritage and the weight of history.
William Butler Yeats articulates a complex relationship with his Irish heritage, acknowledging the profound impact of historical strife and division ('great hatred') on personal identity. The phrase 'I carry from my mother's womb a fanatic heart' conveys how ingrained these sentiments are, suggesting that passion and intensity are inherent aspects of his identity, shaped by the turmoil that surrounds him from birth.
Themes
IrelandHistoryIdentityConflictHeritagePassionFanaticism
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a speech about the importance of understanding personal history in shaping one's identity.
More from William Butler Yeats
All quotes βIt was my first meeting with a philosophy that confirmed my vague speculations and seemed at once logical and boundless.
William Butler YeatsRead
But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
William Butler YeatsRead
How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.
William Butler YeatsRead
For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.
William Butler YeatsRead
Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action, for we would not change that which we love.
William Butler YeatsRead
Similar quotes
I enjoyed having a reputation as being wild, but these days I try not to worry about what people think in the privacy of their own brain or what they write in the bizarre publicity of their own newspapers, because all of those things are meaningless.
Russell BrandRead
To punish a man because he has committed a crime, or because he is believed, though unjustly, to have committed a crime, is not persecution. To punish a man, because we infer from the nature of some doctrine which he holds, or from the conduct of other persons who hold the same doctrines with him, that he will commit a crime, is persecution, and is, in every case, foolish and wicked.
Thomas B. MacaulayRead
The ear tends to be lazy, craves the familiar and is shocked by the unexpected; the eye, on the other hand, tends to be impatient, craves the novel and is bored by repetition.
W. H. AudenRead
What is essential, therefore, is not that you no longer believe, but that God continues to believe in you.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
It is the nature of aphoristic thinking to be always in a state of concluding; a bid to have the final word is inherent in all powerful phrase-making.
Susan SontagRead
Every cradle asks us, Whence? and every coffin, Whither? The poor barbarian, weeping above his dead, can answer these questions as intelligently as the robed priest of the most authentic creed.
Robert Green IngersollRead