Life never presents us with anything which may not be looked upon as a fresh starting point, no less than as a termination.
Andre GideRead
'Therefore' is a word the poet must not know.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The poet should embrace spontaneity and not overthink their creations.
This quote by AndrΓ© Gide suggests that the poet, or any creative individual, should avoid the constraints of rationality that the word 'therefore' implies. Instead of relying on logical transitions and conclusions in their work, poets are encouraged to explore their emotions and ideas without being bound by structured reasoning, allowing their creativity to flow freely.
Themes
PoetryCreativitySpontaneityExpressionArt
In practice
Example use cases
In a poetry workshop, to emphasize the importance of free expression, one might say, 'Therefore is a word the poet must not know.'
More from Andre Gide
All quotes βDo not do what someone else could do as well as you. Do not say, do not write what someone else could say, could write as well as you. Care for nothing in yourself but what you feel exists nowhere else. And, out of yourself create, impatiently or patiently, the most irreplaceable of beings.
Andre GideRead
Old hands soil, it seems, whatever they caress, but they too have their beauty when they are joined in prayer. Young hands were made for caresses and the sheathing of love. It is a pity to make them join too soon.
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Through fear of resembling one another, through horror of having to submit, through uncertainty as well, through skepticism and complexity, there is a multitude of individual little beliefs for the triumph of strange little individuals.
Andre GideRead
It is the special quality of love not to be able to remain stationary, to be obliged to increase under pain of diminishing.
Andre GideRead
It is with noble sentiments that bad literature gets written.
Andre GideRead
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