It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
Ezra PoundRead
The curse of me and my nation is that we always think things can be bettered by immediate action of some sort, any sort rather than no sort.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the tendency to believe that any action, even if misguided, is better than inaction.
Ezra Pound's quote critiques a common mindset where individuals and societies impulsively seek improvement through immediate actions, often without thoughtful consideration or planning. This behavior can stem from a fear of stagnation, leading to decisions driven by urgency rather than strategy, suggesting that sometimes taking no action is more prudent than jumping to conclusions or acting rashly.
Themes
ActionInactionImprovementDecision MakingPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting discussing ongoing projects, one could use this quote to point out the dangers of rushing decisions without proper analysis.
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
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The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, and in general it is understood completely only when it is broken: by exile or emigration in the case of one's country, by retirement in the case of a trade or profession.
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We must cultivate a universal responsibility toward each other and extend it to the planet that we have to share
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All that hullabaloo about somebody's net worth is just stupid, and it's made my life a lot more complex and difficult.
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A country that demands moral perfection in its foreign policy will achieve neither perfection nor security.
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There was only the broad square with the scattered dim moons of the street lamps and with the monumental stone arch which receded into the mist as though it would prop up the melancholy sky and protect beneath itself the faint lonely flame on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which looked like the last grave of mankind in the midst of night and loneliness.
Erich Maria RemarqueRead
This perfection must come through the practice of holiness and love.
Swami VivekanandaRead