What I wanted to do was to get that sense of being in touch with this lost world while holding onto what draws readers and audiences there in the first place.
Stephen GreenblattRead
I've been at this for 40 years. And, as an academic, I've been content with relatively small audiences, with the thought that the audience I long for will find its way eventually to what I have written, provided that what I have written is good enough.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity in academic work. It suggests that worthwhile contributions will eventually reach the right audience.
Stephen Greenblatt reflects on his decades of academic work, articulating a belief in the eventual discovery of valuable ideas by the appropriate audience. He highlights a sense of patience and dedication, trusting that commitment to quality in writing will ultimately attract those who appreciate it, regardless of the immediate size of one's audience.
Themes
AcademicAudienceWritingQualityDedication
In practice
Example use cases
During a conference on educational philosophy, one might quote this to stress the importance of focusing on quality work rather than the size of the audience.
More from Stephen Greenblatt
All quotes →What matters here are the works - finally without them his life would be uninteresting. What matters, that is, are the astonishing things that he left behind. If we can get the life in relation to the works, then it can take off.
Stephen GreenblattRead
The exercise of reason is not available only to specialists; it is accessible to everyone.
Stephen GreenblattRead
Compared to the unleashed forces of warfare and of faith, Mount Vesuvius was kinder to the legacy of antiquity.
Stephen GreenblattRead
The greatest obstacle to pleasure is not pain; it is delusion.
Stephen GreenblattRead
I believe in broken, fractured, complicated narratives, but I believe in narratives as a vehicle for truth, not simply as a form of entertainment, though I love entertainment, but also a way of conveying what needs to be conveyed about the works that I care about.
Stephen GreenblattRead
Similar quotes
Education without social action is a one-sided value because it has no true power potential.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
A society's competitive advantage will come not from how well its schools teach the multiplication and periodic tables, but from how well they stimulate imagination and creativity.
Albert EinsteinRead
It is the responsibility of every adult... to make sure that children hear what we have learned from the lessons of life and to hear over and over that we love them and that they are not alone.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead
Books should be right up there with exercise and diet as something that don't just entertain us but heal us. They tell us we are not alone and fix the pieces of us that can be shattered by reality. They are teachers, and they are friends, and we should never contemplate a world - or a life - without them.
Matt HaigRead
The cognitive skills prized by the American educational establishment and measured by achievement tests are only part of what is required for success in life. Character skills are equally important determinants of wages, education, health and many other significant aspects of flourishing lives.
James HeckmanRead
Like our physical bodies, our memory becomes out of shape. As children, we are constantly learning new experiences, but by the time we reach our 20s, we start to lead a more sedentary life both mentally and physically. Our lives become routine, and we stop challenging our brains, and our memory starts to suffer.
Tony BuzanRead