In certain ways writing is a form of prayer.
Denise LevertovRead
Peace as a positive condition of society, not merely as an interim between wars, is something so unknown that it casts no images on the mind's screen.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True peace is a state of positive existence rather than just the absence of conflict.
In this quote, Denise Levertov emphasizes that peace should not be seen merely as a pause between conflicts but as a desirable and active state of society. She suggests that genuine peace is overlooked because it is rarely experienced or conceptualized, indicating a deeper reflection on what it means to live in a truly peaceful world.
Themes
PeaceSocietyConflictUnderstandingExistence
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for social justice and the importance of fostering peaceful communities.
More from Denise Levertov
All quotes →I thought I was growing wings— it was a cocoon. I thought, now is the time to step into the fire— it was deep water. Eschatology is a word I learned as a child: the study of Last Things; facing my mirror—no longer young, the news—always of death, the dogs—rising from sleep and clamoring and howling, howling.... ("Seeing For a Moment")
Denise LevertovRead
Wear scarlet! Tear the green lemons off the tree! I don't want to forget who I am, what has burned in me, and hang limp and clean, an empty dress -
Denise LevertovRead
But we have only begun to love the earth. We have only begun to imagine the fullness of life. How could we tire of hope?-so much is in bud.
Denise LevertovRead
Rain-diamonds, this winter morning, embellish the tangle of unpruned pear-tree twigs; each solitaire, placed, it appears, with considered judgement, bears the light beneath the rifted clouds - the invisible shared out in endless abundance.
Denise LevertovRead
An absolute_x000D_ patience._x000D_ Trees stand_x000D_ up to their knees in_x000D_ fog. The fog_x000D_ slowly flows_x000D_ uphill._x000D_ White_x000D_ cobwebs, the grass _x000D_ leaning where deer _x000D_ have looked for apples._x000D_ The woods_x000D_ from brook to where_x000D_ the top of the hill looks_x000D_ over the fog, send up_x000D_ not one bird._x000D_ So absolute, it is_x000D_ no other than_x000D_ happiness itself, a breathing_x000D_ too quiet to hear.
Denise LevertovRead
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