I am a member of the Muskogee people. I'm a poet, a musician, a dreamer of sorts, a questioner. Like everyone else, I'm looking for answers of some sort or the other.
Joy HarjoRead
I chose poetry. Actually, poetry chose me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the idea that the artist's path often feels predetermined, as if they were drawn to it by a greater force.
Joy Harjo's quote speaks to the deep connection that artists and poets often feel towards their craft. It suggests that the vocation of poetry is not just a choice, but a calling, emphasizing a sense of destiny and natural affinity for the art form.
Themes
PoetryArtChoiceDestinyCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creativity, one might include this quote to highlight the intrinsic connection between the poet and their art.
More from Joy Harjo
All quotes βIt's important as a writer to do my art well and do it in a way that is powerful and beautiful and meaningful, so that my work regenerates the people, certainly Indian people, and the earth and the sun. And in that way we all continue forever.
Joy HarjoRead
A story matrix connects all of us._x000D_ There are rules, processes, and circles of responsibility in this world. And the story begins exactly where it is supposed to begin. We cannot skip any part.
Joy HarjoRead
You just go where poetry is, whether it's in your heart or your mind or in books or in places where there's live poetry or recordings.
Joy HarjoRead
Bottom line, I have to follow what my soul says, or my spirit. And my spirit said that poetry and the arts should be without borders, should be without political borders.
Joy HarjoRead
I don't like this romanticization of Indian people in which Indian people are looked at as spiritual saviors, as people who have always taken care of the land. We're human beings. But I think different cultures have developed different aspects of humanness.
Joy HarjoRead
Similar quotes
I am like a moon that shines on an immense, unknown sea where ships never pass
Auguste RodinRead
Remember: It costs nothing to encourage an artist, and the potential benefits are staggering. A pat on the back to an artist now could one day result in your favorite film, or the cartoon you love to get stoned watching, or the song that saves your life. Discourage an artist, you get absolutely nothing in return, ever.
Kevin SmithRead
Novel-writing is, for the novelist, a game of let's pretend.
Philip RothRead
I don't think in terms of optimism and pessimism when writing a story. I am telling a story.
Doris LessingRead
I've always been a character actor, although I'm not quite sure what that means. All my scripts are absolutely covered in notes, so any time I say anything - even 'pass the salt' - I have six subtexts, comments on what I really mean when I'm saying that. Maybe that's what gives the impression that I'm saying one thing and thinking something else.
Christopher WalkenRead
She adored all beautiful things in their every curve and fragrance, so that they became part of her. Day by day, she gathered beauty; had she had no heart (she who was the bosom of womanhood) her thoughts would still have been as lilies, because the good is the beautiful.
James M. BarrieRead