If I body-shame a woman, it is more a reflection of me being critical of my body, me not being able to keep up to certain standards I have, and so making sure that the women around me feel the same way.
The way a small child might dream of visiting Disneyland, I dreamed of writing books. Never did I think my poems would become that.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses a deep passion for writing, likening the dream of becoming an author to a child's dream of visiting a magical place.
In this quote, Rupi Kaur reflects on her profound desire to write books, comparing it to the innocent dreams of a child. It highlights the unexpected journey of her aspirations, as she reveals that although she once dreamed of writing books, it was her poetry that ultimately gained recognition, showcasing the unpredictable nature of artistic pursuits and the fulfillment that comes from embracing one's creative passions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a writing workshop, I shared Rupi Kaur's quote to inspire fellow writers to follow their creative passions.
More from Rupi Kaur
All quotes βThere have been articles saying that all women need to read my book. I ask, why not all men? In fact, that would be even more valuable because we women want to sit down with men and tell them - this is how we feel, this is what we go through.
When I was little, my dad told me about Anandpur Sahib and the court of Guru Gobind Singh. That we came from a tradition of poets, warriors and artists who created when it was illegal to create... we're groomed to be reckless in the defense of what we feel is right.
I wasn't entitled to dream so big. The idea of me being a writer wasn't even possible in my mind. Even when I began to write and first published, I couldn't call myself a writer.
I was always writing for myself. I wrote what I needed to write and hear - that's what makes it powerful.
There was no market for poetry about trauma, abuse, loss, love, and healing through the lens of a Punjabi-Sikh immigrant woman.
Similar quotes
Every age has its own poetry; in every age the circumstances of history choose a nation, a race, a class to take up the torch by creating situations that can be expressed or transcended only through poetry.
I write because writing is the gift God has given me to help people in the world.
An artist in my eyes, is someone who can lighten up a dark room. I have never and will never find difference between the pass from Pele to Carlos Alberto in the final of the World Cup in 1970 and the poetry of the young Rimbaud, who stretches cords from steeple to steeple and garlands from window to window. There is in each of these human manifestations an expression of beauty which touches us and gives us a feeling of eternity.
The second, and I think this is the much more overt and I think it is the main cause, I have been increasingly demonstrating or trying to demonstrate that every possible stance a critic, a scholar, a teacher can take towards a poem is itself inevitably and necessarily poetic.
I saw Quentin Tarantino's 'Django Unchained,' and you could say a lot of things against it, but it was incredible fun. I don't like blood and gore and I am very squeamish about violence, but Tarantino's violence is actually funny.
Drink wine, drink poetry, drink virtue.