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If a nation's literature declines, the nation atrophies and decays.
Ezra Pound
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Literature is essential for a nation's cultural vitality.

This quote by Ezra Pound emphasizes the crucial role of literature in the health and prosperity of a nation. When a nation's literary output diminishes, it signifies a decline in cultural values, ideas, and identity, ultimately leading to societal decay and stagnation.

Themes

LiteratureCultureDeclineNationProfound

In practice

Example use cases

During a national conference on arts and education, this quote could be used to highlight the importance of supporting literature programs.

More from Ezra Pound

It is difficult to write a paradiso when all the superficial indications are that you ought to write an apocalypse.
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The 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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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.
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The mere imparting of information is not education.
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A nation that does not stand for its children does not stand for anything and will not stand tall in the future.
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