The poet is one who is able to keep the fresh vision of the child alive.
Societies in decline have no use for visionaries.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights that declining societies often reject innovative thinkers and their ideas.
Anais Nin's quote reflects the tendency of societies experiencing decline to dismiss or overlook visionaries and their contributions. In such times, those who think differently or challenge the status quo may be seen as impractical or irrelevant, ultimately leading to a stagnation in progress and innovation. This quote serves as a reminder of the importance of embracing visionary ideas, especially during difficult times, to foster renewal and growth within a community.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about societal challenges, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of innovative thinking.
More from Anais Nin
All quotes βAnxiety is love's greatest killer, because it is like the stranglehold of the drowning.
We celebrate peace. Yet we pay no attention to the ways of curing aggression in human beings. And when one sees in psychoanalysis hostility disappearing as people conquer their fears, one wonders if the cure is not there.
The impetus to grow and live intensely is so powerful in me I cannot resist it. I will work, I will love my husband, but I will fulfill myself.
We have been poisoned by fairy tales.
But I lie. I embellish. My words are not deep enough. They disguise, they conceal. I will not rest until I have told of my descent into a sensuality which was as dark, as magnificent, as wild, as my moments of mystic creation have been dazzling, ecstatic, exalted.
Similar quotes
He is a wise man who seeks by every legitimate means to make all the money he can honestly, for money can do so many worthwhile things in this world, not merely for one's self but for others. But he is an unmitigated fool who imagines for a moment that it is more important to make the money than to make it honestly. One of the advantages of possessing money is that it facilitates one's independence and mental attitude. The man head over heels in debt is more slave than independent.
The sage acts without taking credit. He accomplishes without dwelling on it. He does not want to display his worth.
For other things mild Heav'n a time ordains, And disapproves that care, though wise in show, That with superfluous burden loads the day, And when God sends a cheerful hour, refrains.
We are often better served by connecting ideas than we are by protecting them.
Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct form ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended.
The librarian spoke in a reverential whisper. Corliss knew she'd misjudged this passionate woman. Maybe she dressed poorly, but she was probably great in bed, certainly believed in God and goodness, and kept an illicit collection of overdue library books on her shelves.