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.
As creators, our pursuit of perfection might be misguided, particularly if it comes at the expense of the things that matter.
The photographer's most important and likewise most difficult task is not learning to manage his camera, or to develop, or to print. It is learning to see photographically — that is, learning to see his subject matter in terms of the capacities of his tools and processes, so that he can instantaneously translate the elements and values in a scene before him into the photograph he wants to make.
When I was a bad writer, I would consciously imitate other NPR writers who I thought were wonderful. I suppose that everyone's artistic practice is different. But I collaborate and sometimes don't agree at all with my collaborators' opinions. It forces you to understand why you don't agree with something: what's the fight you're picking.
Someday I'll design a typeface without a K in it, and then let's see the bastards misspell my name.
History is my passion. So I write what I love to read. I find that if I combine history with a strong, sensual romance, it is like a one-two punch. The reader doesn't want the history without the romance, and of course the heavier the history, the more it has to be leavened with a sensual, all-consuming love story.
Human beings love poetry. They don't even know it sometimes... whether they're the songs of Bono, or the songs of Justin Bieber... they're listening to poetry.
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