If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
William Butler YeatsRead
An intellectual hatred is the worst, So let her think opinions are accursed. Have I not seen the loveliest woman born Out of the mouth of Plenty's horn, Because of her opinionated mind Barter that horn and every good By quiet natures understood For an old bellows full of angry wind?
Interpretation
Intellectual hatred and rigid opinions hinder genuine beauty and understanding.
In this quote, Yeats expresses that an 'intellectual hatred' is detrimental, suggesting that rigid, negative opinions can stifle appreciation for real beauty and value in life. He observes that even a seemingly flawed mind can produce wonderful outcomes, highlighting the importance of openness and understanding over dogmatism.
In practice
In a debate about the value of differing opinions in society.
If a poet interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility.
It was my first meeting with a philosophy that confirmed my vague speculations and seemed at once logical and boundless.
But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
How far away the stars seem, and how far is our first kiss, and ah, how old my heart.
For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.
Love is created and preserved by intellectual analysis, for we love only that which is unique, and it belongs to contemplation, not to action, for we would not change that which we love.
The problem of pornography is that it does not reveal too much of a woman but too little.
I think that ideas exist outside of ourselves. I think somewhere, we're all connected off in some very abstract land. But somewhere between there and here ideas exist.
Je est un autre. (I is someone else).
People have the problem of denial. This is one of the things I learned in Lebanon. Everybody who left Beirut when the war started, including my parents, said, 'Oh, its temporary.' It lasted 17 years! People tend to underestimate the gravity of these situations. That's how they work.
That's what tyrants do, I guess. They make you covet their attention; they make you confuse attention for mercy.
We are unraveling our navels so that we may ingest the sun. We are not afraid of the darkness. We trust that the moon shall guide us. We are determining the future at this very moment. We know that the heart is the philosopher's stone. Our music is our alchemy.
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