QuoteProject
I'm fighting against the bad poet who is prone to using too many words.
Wislawa Szymborska
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote criticizes writers who overcomplicate their poetry by using excessive language.

Wislawa Szymborska highlights the importance of clarity and precision in poetry, suggesting that good poetry should communicate its message effectively without unnecessary verbosity. By criticizing the 'bad poet,' she underscores the value of simplicity and the art of using just the right number of words to evoke emotion and meaning.

Themes

PoetrySimplicityClarityLanguageCommunication

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a writing workshop to encourage participants to focus on clarity in their poetry.

More from Wislawa Szymborska

All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
I started earning a living as a poet rather early on.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
But they know about us, they know, the four corners, and the chairs nearby us. Discerning shadows also know, and even the table keeps quiet.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
I've reached the age of self-knowledge, so I don't know anything. People who claim that they know something are responsible for most of the fuss in the world.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead
Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through.
Wislawa SzymborskaRead

Similar quotes

If a secret history of books could be written, and the author's private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader!
William Makepeace ThackerayRead
Amos Oz is one of the finest novelists of this entire period. MY MICHAEL is a beautiful work of great depth and in some indescribable way lingers in the mind as a lyric song to his country's people as much as a moving love story.
Arthur MillerRead
I cannot start a story or chapter without knowing how it ends. ... Of course, it rarely ends that way.
Kazuo IshiguroRead
Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.
Ernest HemingwayRead
There are now 30-year-old Mexican writers who do great novels in which Mexico isn't even mentioned.
Carlos FuentesRead
He didn't want to please his readers. He wanted to stretch them until they twanged.
Martin AmisRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.