It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
Ezra PoundRead
The modern artist must live by craft and violence. His gods are violent gods. Those artists, so called, whose work does not show this strife, are uninteresting.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes that true artistry requires struggle and intensity, reflecting the chaotic nature of modern existence.
Ezra Pound asserts that the essence of being a modern artist lies in embracing conflict and turmoil. He argues that the most compelling artistry stems from genuine struggle, indicating that artists who avoid depicting this inner strife create work that lacks depth and interest. In this perspective, art becomes a battlefield for emotions and ideas, driven by the powerful forces that shape human experience.
Themes
ArtStruggleCreativityModernityConflict
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of turmoil in culture, this quote can illustrate the necessity of conflict in authentic artistic expression.
More from Ezra Pound
All quotes βThe ant's a centaur in his dragon world. Pull down thy vanity, it is not man Made courage, or made order, or made grace, Pull down thy vanity, I say pull down. Learn of the green world what can be thy place In scaled invention or true artistry, Pull down thy vanity, Paquin pull down! The green casque has outdone your elegance.
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I desired my dust to be mingled with yours Forever and forever and forever.
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Literature does not exist in a vacuum. Writers as such have a definite social function exactly proportional to their ability as writers. This is their main use.
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In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse of earlier centuries.
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Fundamental accuracy of statement is the ONE sole morality of writing.
Ezra PoundRead
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