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.
How wonderful it is to be an American. We have known the best of times and the worst of times.
Everyone - pantheist, atheist, skeptic, polytheist - has to answer these questions: 'Where did I come from? What is life's meaning? How do I define right from wrong and what happens to me when I die?' Those are the fulcrum points of our existence.
It is an absurd law [Section 295A of the Indian penal code] but also extremely dangerous because it gives fanatics, whether they are Hindus, Catholics or Muslims, a licence to be offended. It also allows people who are in dispute with you to make up false accusations of blasphemy.
Live for an ideal, and that one ideal alone. Let it be so great, so strong, that there may be nothing else left in the mind; no place for anything else, no time for anything else.
My sin burdened me heavily. But when I measured it against Your Grace, O Lord, Your forgiveness came out greater.
The Unitarian Church has done more than any other church to substitute character for creed, and to say that a man should be judged by his spirit; by the climate of his heart; by the autumn of his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that he should be judged by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, rather than by the mythology he may believe.
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