But poets were not considered dangerous and they were advised to exercise self-censorship. At most, poets were requested not to write at all. I took advantage of this negative liberty.
Eugenio MontaleRead
Man cannot produce a single work without the assistance of the slow, assiduous, corrosive worm of thought.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Thought is essential for creativity and production.
Eugenio Montale emphasizes the importance of deep, reflective thinking in the creative process. The 'worm of thought' signifies the persistent and often laborious nature of contemplating ideas, suggesting that meaningful work cannot be achieved without the thorough mulling over of thoughts and concepts.
Themes
ThoughtCreativityReflectionWorkPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a creative writing workshop to emphasize the importance of introspection.
More from Eugenio Montale
All quotes βThere is poetry even in prose, in all the great prose which is not merely utilitarian or didactic: there exist poets who write in prose or at least in more or less apparent prose; millions of poets write verses which have no connection with poetry.
Eugenio MontaleRead
Mass communication, radio, and especially television, have attempted, not without success, to annihilate every possibility of solitude and reflection.
Eugenio MontaleRead
It has often been observed that the repercussion of poetic language on prose language can be considered a decisive cut of a whip.
Eugenio MontaleRead
I have always knocked at the door of that wonderful and terrible enigma which is life.
Eugenio MontaleRead
For my part, if I consider poetry as an object, I maintain that it is born of the necessity of adding a vocal sound (speech) to the hammering of the first tribal music.
Eugenio MontaleRead
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Man is not logical and his intellectual history is a record of mental reserves and compromises. He hangs on to what he can in his old beliefs even when he is compelled to surrender their logical basis.
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The sinner is not the one who uses a lot of grace... The saint burns grace like a 747 burns fuel on take off.
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