Major writing is to say what has been seen, so that it need never be said again.
Delmore SchwartzRead
I am a book I neither wrote nor read.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that our lives are shaped by experiences and influences beyond our control.
Delmore Schwartz's quote reflects the idea that individuals are complex entities formed by various external factors, including society, culture, and the experiences of others. We may not have authored our stories or fully understood them, yet they still profoundly impact our identities and perspectives. This emphasizes the ongoing journey of self-discovery and the role of external influences in shaping who we are.
In practice
Using this quote during a discussion about self-identity at a literary event.
Men don't and can't live by exchanging articles, but by producing them. They don't live by trade, but by work. Give up that foolish and vain title of Trades Unions; and take that of laborers Unions.
Only the small secrets need to be protected. The large ones are kept secret by public incredulity.
To demand that a person pee in a cup whenever you wish him to, without a documented reason to suspect that he has been using an illegal drug, is intolerable in our republic. You are saying to him, "I wonder if you are not behaving in a way that I approve of. Convince me that you indeed are. Outrageous. Intolerable.
A wild longing for strong emotions and sensations seethes in me, a rage against this toneless, flat, normal and sterile life. I have a mad impulse to smash something, a warehouse perhaps, or a cathedral, or myself, to committ outrages.
If you want to feel connected to your own purpose, know this for certain: Your purpose will only be found in service to others, and in being connected to the something far greater than your mind/body/ego.
The only way to reconcile science and religion is to set up something which is not science and something that is not religion.
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