When you're writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room.
Tom WaitsRead
The moon was sharp enough to draw blood from a stone
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote conveys the idea that beauty and inspiration can arise from even the most unlikely or harsh situations.
Tom Waits uses the vivid imagery of a 'sharp' moon to suggest that beauty can have a cutting edge, capable of evoking strong emotions or reactions, as if it could draw blood from something as hard and unyielding as stone. This statement reflects the complex nature of art, where profound beauty and pain often coexist, pushing us to appreciate the depth and richness of experiences that are sometimes unexpected or stark.
Themes
MoonBeautyArtSharpBloodStone
In practice
Example use cases
During a poetry reading, this quote could be used to illustrate the idea of finding inspiration in unexpected places.
More from Tom Waits
All quotes →If you're in the middle of the ocean with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.
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I knelt at the altar of Ray Charles for years. I worked at a restaurant, and that's all there was on the jukebox.
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Don't plant your bad days. They grow into weeks. The weeks grow into months. Before you know it, you got yourself a bad year. Take it from me - choke those little bad days. Choke 'em down to nothing.
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My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
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Now its raining its pouring the old man is snoring now I lay me down to sleep I hear the sirens in the street all my dreams are made of chrome I have no way to get back home I’d rather die before I wake like Marilyn Monroe and throw my dreams out in the street and the rain make ‘em grow
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I started earning a living as a poet rather early on.
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