There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
T. S. EliotRead
Mediocre writers borrow; great writers steal.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that exceptional writers take inspiration from existing works rather than merely imitating them.
T. S. Eliot's quote highlights the distinction between mediocre and great writers in their approach to creativity. While mediocre writers might merely borrow ideas, great writers absorb influences, transform them, and create something new and original. This process of 'stealing' is about understanding the essence of existing works and reinventing them in one's unique voice, thereby advancing the art of writing.
In practice
In a writing workshop, when discussing originality, one might quote T. S. Eliot to inspire students to embrace their influences.
There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.
I am an Anglo-Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature and a royalist in politics.
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?
For I have known them all already, known them allβ Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.
In the faint moonlight, the grass is singing
I think I probably would have enjoyed to keep my own private pain out of my work. But I was changed by my audience who said your private pain which you have unwittingly shown us in your early songs is also ours.
I'm a musician and, just as the critics are hard on me, I'm hard on the critics.
There is a force of exultation, a celebration of luck, when a writer finds himself a witness to the early morning of a culture that is defining itself, branch by branch, leaf by leaf, in that self-defining dawn, which is why, especially at the edge of the sea, it is good to make a ritual of the sunrise.
Whether I make them or not, there are always sounds to be heard and all of them are excellent.
It was the moment I learned acting is not acting out. After that light went on, I spent the rest of my life trying to figure out how to make other people realize it.
There's no great mystique to photography. A lot of photographers like to put their hands up to their forehead and tell you how they've suffered and so forth. Well, I just rent a car and drive to the place and take the pictures.
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