None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Henry David ThoreauRead
A farmer, a hunter, a soldier, a reporter, even a philosopher, may be daunted; but nothing can deter a poet, for he is actuated by pure love. Who can predict his comings and goings? His business calls him out at all hours, even when doctors sleep.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the unwavering passion and dedication of a poet driven by love, which transcends other professions.
In this quote, Henry David Thoreau illustrates the unique commitment of poets compared to other professions like farmers, hunters, soldiers, reporters, and philosophers. He emphasizes that a poet, motivated by pure love for their craft, remains undeterred by challenges that might discourage others, suggesting that their creative spirit compels them to write and express their thoughts at any time, even outside the conventional hours of work.
In practice
This quote can inspire writers during a poetry reading session.
None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling and spending their lives like servants.
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings. The reality will make any sincere record respectable.
As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.
That grand old poem called Winter
If you focus your energy on the camera, it takes away from the time you have to focus on the performances.
Writing should ... be as spontaneous and urgent as a letter to a lover, or a message to a friend who has just lost a parent ... and writing is, in the end, that oddest of anomalies: an intimate letter to a stranger
And its object is Art not power, sub-creation not domination and tyrannous re-forming of Creation.
The stage is a place where I can be wholly myself. Even though you're in front of people almost to be judged, it is a place without judgement.
Basically, you make another movie, and another, and hopefully you feel good about every picture you make. And you say, 'My name is on that. I did that. It's OK.' But don't get me wrong, I still get excited by it all. That, I hope, will never disappear.
The greatest films ever made in our history were cut on film, and I'm tenaciously hanging on to the process. I just love going into an editing room and smelling the photochemistry and seeing my editor wearing mini-strands of film around his neck.
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