If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
What do we know but that we face one another in this place?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the shared human experience and the inevitability of our interactions with one another.
William Butler Yeats' quote prompts deep reflection on the nature of human existence, suggesting that despite the uncertainties of life, what remains constant is our engagement with each other in the present moment. It emphasizes the importance of relationships and connections that shape our understanding of ourselves and the world around us, reminding us that facing one another is an essential part of our journey through life.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community, one might say, 'What do we know but that we face one another in this place?' to emphasize the importance of unity.
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.
But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.
For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.
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.
Similar quotes
And truly it little matters what I say, this or that or any other thing. Saying is inventing. Wrong, very rightly wrong. You invent nothing, you think you are inventing, you think you are escaping, and all you do is stammer out your lesson, the remnants of a pensum one day got by heart and long forgotten, life without tears, as it is wept.
The woman's soul is fashioned as a shelter in which other souls may unfold.
Just to the extent that the Bible was appealed to in matters of science, science was retarded; and just to the extent that science has been appealed to in matters of religion, religion has advanced - so that now the object of intelligent religionists is to adopt a creed that will bear the test and criticism of science.
All God's creatures are His family; and he is the most beloved of God who tries to do most good to God's creatures.
We were good boys, good Presbyterian boys, and loyal and all that; anyway, we were good Presbyterian boys when the weather was doubtful; when it was fair, we did wander a little from the fold.
The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.