I can't tell you where a poem comes from, what it is, or what it is for: nor can any other man. The reason I can't tell you is that the purpose of a poem is to go past telling, to be recognised by burning.
A. R. AmmonsRead
Even if you walk exactly the same route each time - as with a sonnet - the events along the route cannot be imagined to be the same from day to day, as the poet's health, sight, his anticipations, moods, fears, thoughts cannot be the same.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is constantly changing, and even familiar experiences are never identical.
This quote by A. R. Ammons reflects on the nature of experience and perception, suggesting that even when we encounter the same situations or paths repeatedly, our internal states—such as our thoughts, emotions, and physical well-being—alter how we perceive each moment. It emphasizes the idea that every experience is unique, shaped by our ever-changing circumstances and feelings.
Themes
ChangePerceptionExperienceLifeEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about embracing change, this quote can illustrate how our perspectives shift over time.
More from A. R. Ammons
All quotes →If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we must ineluctably be included.
A. R. AmmonsRead
For though we often need to be restored to the small, concrete, limited, and certain, we as often need to be reminded of the large, vague, unlimited, unknown
A. R. AmmonsRead
Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank out other ways of seeing.
A. R. AmmonsRead
Similar quotes
I am afraid we must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy.
George Bernard ShawRead
Our spirits are corroded by living in an atmosphere of unrelenting contention - an argument culture.
Deborah TannenRead
The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.
Sydney J. HarrisRead
Almost nobody believes anymore that infants are insensate blobs. It seems both mad and evil to deny experience and feeling to a laughing, gurgling creature.
Paul BloomRead
Christianity has been successfully attacked and marginalized… because those who professed belief were unable to defend the faith from attack, even though its attackers’ arguments were deeply flawed.
William WilberforceRead
I don't believe in that kind of American John Wayne individualism where people pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Someone changed your diapers. And if that's the case, you ain't self-made.
Michael Eric DysonRead