The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
Muriel RukeyserRead
I should like to use another word: 'audience' or 'reader' or 'listener' seems inadequate. I suggest the old word 'witness,' which includes the act of seeing and knowing by personal experience, as well as the act of giving evidence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The term 'witness' encapsulates deeper understanding and personal experience, surpassing the limitations of 'audience' or 'reader.'
In this quote, Muriel Rukeyser emphasizes the importance of personal experience and active participation in understanding and conveying truth. By suggesting the term 'witness,' she highlights that true engagement involves not just passive observation but also the sharing and recognition of experiences that shape our knowledge and evidence about the world.
Themes
WitnessExperienceUnderstandingKnowledgeEvidence
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal growth, one could invoke this quote to emphasize the value of lived experiences.
More from Muriel Rukeyser
All quotes →A work of art is one through which the consciousness of the artist is able to give its emotions to anyone who is prepared to receive them.
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In our period, they say there is free speech. They say there is no penalty for poets, There is no penalty for writing poems. They say this. This is the penalty.
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Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings. Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed.
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The town of Gauley Bridge stands as a pattern for all those places where people are linked even in the middle of their suffering, where people fight against an evil condition so that other people need not go through the same fight.
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Always our wars have been our confessions of weakness
Muriel RukeyserRead
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