Give me hunger, pain and want, Shut me out with shame and failure From your doors of gold and fame, Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger! But leave me a little love.
Carl SandburgRead
I wrote poems in my corner of the Brooks Street station. I sent them to two editors who rejected them right off. I read those letters of rejection years later and I agreed with those editors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the journey of a poet who faced rejection but later recognized the validity of that criticism.
Carl Sandburg's quote illustrates the experience of an artist grappling with rejection. Initially, he faced the disappointment of having his poems dismissed by editors, but upon reflecting on those rejections years later, he came to understand and agree with the critics' judgments. This highlights the growth that can come from experiences of failure and the importance of self-reflection in the creative process.
Themes
RejectionPoetrySelf-ReflectionGrowthCriticism
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about resilience in creative fields.
More from Carl Sandburg
All quotes →Nothing happens... but first a dream.
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Read the dictionary from A to Izzard today. Get a vocabulary. Brush up on your diction. See whether wisdom is just a lot of language.
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My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
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There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
Carl SandburgRead
A liar goes in fine clothes, a liar goes in rags, a liar is a liar, clothes or no clothes.
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