It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
Ezra PoundRead
Come, let us pity those who are better off than we are. Come, my friend, and remember that the rich have butlers and no friends, And we have friends and no butlers. (excerpt from 'The Garrett')
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the value of friendship over wealth, suggesting that true companionship is more meaningful than material possessions.
In this excerpt from 'The Garrett' by Ezra Pound, the poet highlights the often-overlooked truth that wealth can lead to isolation despite its comforts. By urging his friend to feel pity for the rich who, though surrounded by luxury and servants, lack genuine friendships, Pound emphasizes the significance of human connections over material success, suggesting that empathy and camaraderie are what truly enrich our lives.
Themes
FriendshipWealthCompanionshipEmpathyHuman Connection
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about the importance of relationships over material wealth.
More from Ezra Pound
All quotes →The 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
We have a saying in the Marine Corps and that is 'no better friend, no worse enemy, than a U.S. Marine.' We always hope for the first, friendship, but are certainly more than ready for the second.
John F. KellyRead
Is there any pleasure in anger? Yes, if the fire of my anger appeases the ashes of my friends.
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I'd rather trust nine people and have the 10th one stab me in the back. I'd take that fall in order to have those nine friendships or working relationships instead of having none. That's not living.
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Grant us brotherhood, not only for this day but for all our years - a brotherhood not of words but of acts and deeds.
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Choose your friends with caution; plan your future with purpose, and frame your life with faith.
Thomas S. MonsonRead
A true friend is the most precious of all possessions and the one we take the least thought about acquiring.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead