It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
Ezra PoundRead
'Tis not need we know our every thought Or see the work shop where each mask is wrought Wherefrom we view the world of box and pit, Careless of wear, just so the mask shall fit And serve our jape's turn for a night or two.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the idea that we don't need to understand all our thoughts or the processes behind our actions, as long as we can present ourselves effectively to the world.
Ezra Pound's quote delves into the notion that self-awareness isn't always necessary for functioning in society. The 'mask' symbolizes the roles we play in life, suggesting that our presentation to the world can often be more important than our internal struggles or thoughts. It highlights the transient nature of our identity, implying that we can effectively engage with others by simply ensuring that our outward persona aligns with situational demands, even if we remain oblivious to the deeper workings of our psyche.
Themes
IdentitySelf-AwarenessPresentationPsychologyRoles
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about personal branding, one might say, 'As Pound reflects, we can present ourselves effectively without knowing our every thought.'
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.
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
Similar quotes
Where constraint breaks people, and mediation makes fools of them, the seduction of power is what makes them love their oppression. Because of it, people give up their real riches for a cause that mutilates them; for an appearance that reifies them; for roles that wrest them from authentic life; for a time whose passage defines and confines them.
Raoul VaneigemRead
Doomed Lord's Passing. For the mind of man alone is free to explore the lofty vastness of the cosmic infinite, to transcend ordinary consciousness, to roam the secret corridors of the brain where past and future melt into one...And universe and individual are linked, the one mirrored in the other, and each contains the other.
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I've noticed that even people who believe in fate look both ways before crossing the street.
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Existence is a series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece.
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Surely the ass who invented the first religion ought to be the first ass damned
Mark TwainRead
Man hath still either toys or care: But hath no root, nor to one place is tied, but ever restless and irregular, about this earth doth run and ride. He knows he hath a home, but scarce knows where; He says it is so far, that he has quite forgot how to go there.
Henry VaughanRead