A Poem from Edna St. Vincent Millay: Grown-up Was it for this I uttered prayers, And sobbed and cursed and kicked the stairs, That now, domestic as a plate, I should retire at half-past eight?
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
Some of us have been thinking and talking too long without doing anything. Poems are perfect; picketing, sometimes, is better.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of action over excessive deliberation or discussion.
Edna St. Vincent Millay highlights the concept that while reflection and creativity have their value, they must be balanced with action. The assertion that 'picketing, sometimes, is better' suggests that taking a stand and engaging actively in the world around us can lead to meaningful change, rather than getting lost in endless conversation or artistic expression that does not translate into action.
Themes
ActionImportanceDoingChangeExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about taking initiative in social movements.
More from Edna St. Vincent Millay
All quotes →Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age. The child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
I went to Boston fully expecting to be arrested - arrested by a polizia created by a government that my ancestors rebelled to establish.
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
Listen, children: Your father is dead. From his old coats I'll make you little jackets; I'll make you little trousers From his old pants. There'll be in his pockets Things he used to put there, Keys and pennies Covered with tobacco; Dan shall have the pennies To save in his bank; Anne shall have the keys To make a pretty noise with. Life must go on, Though good men die; Anne, eat your breakfast; Dan, take your medicine; Life must go on; I forget just why.
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
I would I were alive again To kiss the fingers of the rain, To drink into my eyes the shine Of every slanting silver line, To catch the freshened, fragrant breeze From drenched and dripping apple-trees. For soon the shower will be done, And then the broad face of the sun Will laugh above the rain-soaked earth Until the world with answering mirth Shakes joyously, and each round drop Rolls twinkling, from its grass-blade top.
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
I drank at every vine, the last was like the first. I came upon no wine so wonderful as thirst.
Edna St. Vincent MillayRead
Similar quotes
Think I'll roll another number for the road
Neil YoungRead
I always wanted to know, and I always used to daydream, about what it would be like to stand on a really big stage and sing songs for a lot of people, songs that I had written... Daydreaming was kind of my No. 1 thing when I was little, because I didn't have much of a social life going on.
Taylor SwiftRead
Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. [...] You only need a heart full of grace.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
There’s nothing better than discovering, to your own astonishment, what you’re meant to do. It’s like falling in love.
Mike NicholsRead
Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality.
Malala YousafzaiRead
So when it came to role models, I looked at presidents' wives. Of course, you're talking about a farm girl who stood in the fields, dreaming, years ago, wishing she was that kind of person. But if I had been that kind of person, do you think I could sing with the emotions I do? You sing with those emotions because you've had pain in your heart.
Tina TurnerRead