Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
Wallace StevensRead
The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that the pleasures of life, represented by ice cream, are more significant than lofty ideals or authority.
Wallace Stevens' quote, 'The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream,' encapsulates a celebration of earthly pleasures and the tangible joys of life. It implies that while people may seek grandeur or power, the true 'emperor' that rules over our existence is the simple and delightful experiences, represented metaphorically by ice cream. In essence, Stevens emphasizes valuing the immediate and sensory experiences over abstract or authoritarian concepts.
Themes
Ice CreamPleasureLifeJoyEnjoyment
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about finding joy in everyday moments, one might say, 'As Wallace Stevens reminds us, the only emperor is the emperor of ice cream.'
More from Wallace Stevens
All quotes βMost modern reproducers of life, even including the camera, really repudiate it. We gulp down evil, choke at good.
Wallace StevensRead
After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
Wallace StevensRead
Why should she give her bounty to the dead? What is divinity if it can come Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Wallace StevensRead
LIGHT FROM WITHIN my friend, cancer got you damn it: you had it beat for seven years at least. how did it come back? Why all that pain. again. and you, such a fighter you fought me over and over with tears and words and promises. you fought for me with honesty and a light so bright it hurts my heart. sweet lorna. at peace now finally no more battles, just light from within a flickering candle in the dark burns with you.
Wallace StevensRead
Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.
Wallace StevensRead
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One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind.
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At heart I've always been a music fan. That part of me has never changed since I was a little kid, sitting in a room watching a record go round, looking at the colour of the labels.
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