It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
Ezra PoundRead
People find ideas a bore because they do not distinguish between live ones and stuffed ones on a shelf.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that many people fail to recognize the vitality and potential of genuine ideas, mistaking them for outdated or uninteresting concepts.
Ezra Pound emphasizes the importance of recognizing and valuing 'live' ideas—those that are vibrant, dynamic, and filled with potential—over 'stuffed' ideas, which are stagnant and lifeless. In essence, the quote calls for a deeper engagement with fresh and innovative thoughts, as opposed to merely accepting traditional or tired notions without question.
Themes
IdeasInnovationCreativityDistinctionEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
In a brainstorming session, one might use this quote to inspire team members to think outside the box and embrace new ideas.
More from Ezra Pound
All quotes →The ant's a centaur in his dragon world. Pull down thy vanity, it is not man Made courage, or made order, or made grace, Pull down thy vanity, I say pull down. Learn of the green world what can be thy place In scaled invention or true artistry, Pull down thy vanity, Paquin pull down! The green casque has outdone your elegance.
Ezra PoundRead
I desired my dust to be mingled with yours Forever and forever and forever.
Ezra PoundRead
Literature does not exist in a vacuum. Writers as such have a definite social function exactly proportional to their ability as writers. This is their main use.
Ezra PoundRead
In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse of earlier centuries.
Ezra PoundRead
The modern artist must live by craft and violence. His gods are violent gods. Those artists, so called, whose work does not show this strife, are uninteresting.
Ezra PoundRead
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