Everything is complicated; if that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.
Wallace StevensRead
The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that change is a constant in life, and one must adapt to keep moving forward.
In this quote, Wallace Stevens highlights the inevitability of change through the imagery of a river's movement and a blackbird in flight. The flowing river symbolizes the passage of time and the continuous changes in life, while the flying blackbird represents the need for individuals to embrace change and remain adaptable in an ever-evolving world.
Themes
ChangeNatureAdaptationLifeMovement
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage adaptability in times of change.
More from Wallace Stevens
All quotes βMost modern reproducers of life, even including the camera, really repudiate it. We gulp down evil, choke at good.
Wallace StevensRead
After one has abandoned a belief in God, poetry is that essence which takes its place as life's redemption.
Wallace StevensRead
Why should she give her bounty to the dead? What is divinity if it can come Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Wallace StevensRead
LIGHT FROM WITHIN my friend, cancer got you damn it: you had it beat for seven years at least. how did it come back? Why all that pain. again. and you, such a fighter you fought me over and over with tears and words and promises. you fought for me with honesty and a light so bright it hurts my heart. sweet lorna. at peace now finally no more battles, just light from within a flickering candle in the dark burns with you.
Wallace StevensRead
Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.
Wallace StevensRead
Similar quotes
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained, I stand and look at them long and long.
Walt WhitmanRead
Isimangaliso must be the only place on the globe where the oldest land mammal (rhinoceros) and the world biggest terrestrial mammal (elephant) share an ecosystem with the world's oldest fish (coelacanth) and the world's biggest marine mammal (whale)
Nelson MandelaRead
We are all filled with a longing for the wild. There are few culturally sanctioned antidotes for this yearning. We were taught to feel shame for such a desire. We grew our hair long and used it to hide our feelings. But the shadow of Wild Woman still lurks behind us during our days and in our nights. No matter where we are, the shadow that trots behind us is definitely four-footed.
Clarissa Pinkola EstesRead
I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets.
John GlennRead
There is much the government can do and should do to improve the environment. But even more important is the individual who plants a tree or cleans a corner of neglect. For it is the individual who himself benefits, and also protects a heritage of beauty for his children and future generations.
Lady Bird JohnsonRead
It is dry, hazy June weather. We are more of the earth, farther from heaven these days.
Henry David ThoreauRead