The non-artists among us are always terribly busy, but finally disappear without a trace.
Interpretation
Only artists leave a lasting impact on the world; others, despite their busyness, fade away.
In this quote, Helen Vendler reflects on the nature of artistic contribution versus a life filled with mundane busyness. She suggests that while many people occupy their time and energy in incessant activities, it is the artists—those who create and express—who leave a profound imprint on the world, highlighting the distinction between meaningful creation and mere existence.
In practice
In a speech at an art gala, one could say, 'As Helen Vendler noted, while the busy may disappear, artists leave a legacy that endures.'
For the mind and the imagination, bookstores aren't enough, college courses aren't enough, the Internet isn't enough. Those resources are all governed by the tastes and needs of the moment. Only libraries take the long view, quietly shelving the unused with the used, knowing that one of these days the two categories will be reversed by a student's discovery of those hitherto undisturbed volumes whose contents will unsettle the learned world.
If you're going to perform inception, you need imagination. You need the simplest version of the idea-the one that will grow naturally in the subject's mind. Subtle art.
Volume depends precisely on the writer's having been able to sit in a room every day, year after year, alone.
In the world of musical theatre, if everyone says it's a good idea, you wonder why nobody has done it before.
I write some country music. There's a song called 'I Hope You Dance.' Incredible. I was going to write that poem; somebody beat me to it.
The architect should strive continually to simplify; the ensemble of the rooms should then be carefully considered that comfort and utility may go hand in hand with beauty.
Cities are beautiful because they are created slowly; they are made by time. A city is born from a tangle of monuments and infrastructures , culture and market, national history and everyday stories. It takes 500 years to create a city, 50 to create a neighborhood.
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