A studio, like a poem, is an intimacy and a freedom you can look out from, into each part of your life and a little beyond.
Jane HirshfieldRead
I write because to write a new sentence, let alone a new poem, is to cross the threshold into both a larger existence and a profound mystery. A thought was not there, then it is. An image, a story, an idea about what it is to be human, did not exist, then it does. With every new poem, an emotion new to the heart, to the world, speaks itself into being.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Writing creates new meaning and understanding in existence.
This quote emphasizes the transformative power of writing, suggesting that each new sentence or poem represents a leap into greater awareness and understanding of our existence. It conveys the idea that through writing, we bring forth thoughts and emotions that were previously unexpressed, enriching both individual and shared human experience.
Themes
WritingCreativityExpressionEmotionHuman Experience
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote to inspire students in a creative writing class about the power of their words.
More from Jane Hirshfield
All quotes →What we want from art is whatever is missing from the lives we are already living and making. Something is always missing, and so art-making is endless.
Jane HirshfieldRead
as some strings, untouched, sound when no one is speaking. So it was when love slipped inside us.
Jane HirshfieldRead
Tree It is foolish to let a young redwood grow next to a house. Even in this one lifetime, you will have to choose. That great calm being, this clutter of soup pots and books-- Already the first branch-tips brush at the window. Softly, calmly, immensity taps at your life.
Jane HirshfieldRead
Zen pretty much comes down to three things -- everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.
Jane HirshfieldRead
I thought I would love you forever—and, a little, I may, in the way I still move toward a crate, knees bent, or reach for a man: as one might stretch for the three or four fruit that lie in the sun at the top of the tree; too ripe for any moment but this, they open their skin at first touch, yielding sweetness, sweetness and heat, and in me, each time since, the answering yes.
Jane HirshfieldRead
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I don't really remember a time younger than 5 years old that I didn't have skates on because all I can remember is every day, tying up my skates and a big smile on my face, excited to go on the ice.
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I write my books at moments of shock. I meet people in extremis and their stories are highly emotionally charged.
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