The non-artists among us are always terribly busy, but finally disappear without a trace.
Interpretation
Only artists leave a lasting impact on the world; others, despite their busyness, fade away.
In this quote, Helen Vendler reflects on the nature of artistic contribution versus a life filled with mundane busyness. She suggests that while many people occupy their time and energy in incessant activities, it is the artists—those who create and express—who leave a profound imprint on the world, highlighting the distinction between meaningful creation and mere existence.
In practice
In a speech at an art gala, one could say, 'As Helen Vendler noted, while the busy may disappear, artists leave a legacy that endures.'
For the mind and the imagination, bookstores aren't enough, college courses aren't enough, the Internet isn't enough. Those resources are all governed by the tastes and needs of the moment. Only libraries take the long view, quietly shelving the unused with the used, knowing that one of these days the two categories will be reversed by a student's discovery of those hitherto undisturbed volumes whose contents will unsettle the learned world.
I picked up the guitar at 11, but even before then, I was writing songs on the organ.
I'm a brown girl from a Punjabi pind raised in Toronto. I don't expect literary critics and purists to understand the nuances of my experiences, and the experiences of the people around me... And my tradition holds that there is a magic in the written word. So how I write, what I write of, and why I write all comes naturally.
I would build a cloudy House For my thoughts to live in; When for earth too fancy-loose And too low for Heaven! Hush! I talk my dream aloud - I build it bright to see, - I build it on the moonlit cloud, To which I looked with thee.
Art is the expression of imagination, not the reproduction of reality.
I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works.
Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.