It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
Ezra PoundRead
Artists are the antennae of the race, but the bullet-headed many will never learn to trust the great artists.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Artists have a deep insight into the human experience, yet they often face skepticism from the general populace.
In this quote, Ezra Pound suggests that artists possess a unique sensitivity and awareness that allows them to perceive and interpret the deeper truths of society. However, he also points out that the larger, less discerning population may not recognize or appreciate this value, often leading to mistrust and misunderstanding of artistic expression.
Themes
ArtistsTrustPerceptionSocietyInsight
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about understanding art, one might quote Ezra Pound to illustrate the disconnect between artists and the general public.
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
Music is well said to be the speech of angels.
Thomas CarlyleRead
I love power. But it is as an artist that I love it. I love it as a musician loves his violin, to draw out its sounds and chords and harmonies.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion, lack of depth. This is a serious mistake: human beings need to have elegance in their actions and in their posture because this word is synonymous with good taste, amiability, equilibrium and harmony.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Fashion comes and goes but style lasts forever
Coco ChanelRead
Ballet became this escape for me. I feel like I was on my own a lot. I was searching for stability, so I was going off on my own and imagining what I thought stability was. Ballet became a way for me to cope.
Misty CopelandRead
Nothing exists until or unless it is observed. An artist is making something exist by observing it. And his hope for other people is that they will also make it exist by observing it. I call it 'creative observation.' Creative viewing.
William S. BurroughsRead