And what a congress of stinks!- Roots ripe as old bait, Pulpy stems, rank, silo-rich, Leaf mold, manure, lime, piled against slippery planks, Nothing would give up life: Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath.
Theodore RoethkeRead
Art is our defense against hysteria and death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art serves as a means to cope with deep emotional struggles and the inevitability of death.
In this quote, Theodore Roethke suggests that art plays a crucial role in helping humanity to confront and make sense of the chaos and emotional turmoil in life. By engaging with art, individuals can find a form of solace and expression that counters feelings of hysteria and the existential dread associated with mortality.
Themes
ArtDefenseHysteriaDeathEmotionalConnection
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of creativity in mental health, this quote can highlight the importance of art.
More from Theodore Roethke
All quotes βMy Papa's Waltz: The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy; But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans Slid from the kitchen shelf; My mother's countenance Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle; At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt, Then waltzed me off to bed Still clinging to your shirt.
Theodore RoethkeRead
The indignity of it!-_x000D_ _x000D_ With everything blooming above me,_x000D_ _x000D_ Lilies, pale-pink cyclamen, roses,_x000D_ _x000D_ Whole fields lovely and inviolate,-_x000D_ _x000D_ Me down in the fetor of weeds,_x000D_ _x000D_ Crawling on all fours,_x000D_ _x000D_ Alive, in a slippery grave.
Theodore RoethkeRead
By daily dying, I have come to be.
Theodore RoethkeRead
The stones were sharp, The wind came at my back; Walking along the highway, Mincing like a cat.
Theodore RoethkeRead
The self says, I am; The heart says, I am less; The spirit says, you are Nothing.
Theodore RoethkeRead
Similar quotes
A John Updike is a once-in-a-generation phenomenon, if that generation is lucky: so comfortable in so many genres, the same lively, generous intelligence suffusing all he did.
George SaundersRead
Au revoir, jewelled alligators and white hotels, hallucinatory forests, farewell.
J. G. BallardRead
I see no intrinsic reason why a doubly talented artist might not arise and create a comic-strip novel masterpiece.
John UpdikeRead
There is an effective strategy open to architects. Whereas doctors deal with the interior organisms of man, architects deal with the exterior organisms of man. Architects might join with one another to carry on their work in laboratories as do doctors in anticipatory medicine.
R. Buckminster FullerRead
As if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose.
Rainer Maria RilkeRead
Singing in Spanish is much more honest, much closer to my roots. For me, Spanish is essential. I still think in Spanish, dream in Spanish. It's the melodies and arrangements that transmit meaning.
JuanesRead