It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
Ezra PoundRead
The technique of infamy is to start two lies at once and get people arguing heatedly over which is the truth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Infamy grows through deceit and controversy, leading people to focus on conflict over truth.
This quote by Ezra Pound suggests that the strategy behind infamy is to propagate multiple lies simultaneously, creating confusion and igniting debates about which is true. This tactic distracts from the genuine search for truth and can manipulate public perception, highlighting the dangers of misinformation and the susceptibility of society to division.
Themes
InfamyLiesTruthDeceptionArgument
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate about fake news, one could use this quote to illustrate how misinformation spreads.
More from Ezra Pound
All quotes βThe 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.
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I desired my dust to be mingled with yours Forever and forever and forever.
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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.
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In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse of earlier centuries.
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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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