Poetry is a fireplace in summer or a fan in winter.
Robert HassRead
When I was younger, I was so crazy about poetry that I didn't notice who was noticing. It seemed to me so tremendous and large.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the deep passion for poetry in youth, often blinding one to the appreciation from others.
In this quote, Robert Hass reminisces about his youthful obsession with poetry, highlighting how his intense engagement with the art form overshadowed any awareness of the admiration he received from those around him. It suggests that true passion can sometimes consume one's focus to the point of overlooking external validation and appreciation, emphasizing the significance of genuine artistic expression over seeking approval.
Themes
PoetryPassionArtYouthAppreciation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about creative pursuits, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of passion over external validation.
More from Robert Hass
All quotes βSometimes from this hillside just after sunset The rim of the sky takes on a tinge Of the palest green, like the flesh of a cucumber When you peel it carefully.
Robert HassRead
Take the time to write. You can do your life's work in half an hour a day.
Robert HassRead
I think that the job of poetry, its political job, is to refresh the idea of justice, which is going dead in us all the time.
Robert HassRead
There are moments when the body is as numinous as words, days that are the good flesh continuing. Such tenderness, those afternoons and evenings, saying blackberry, blackberry, blackberry.
Robert HassRead
Writing is an incessant process of discovery.
Robert HassRead
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I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.
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