Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
Alexander PopeRead
What woeful stuff this madrigal would be, In some starved hackney sonneteer, or me! But let a lord once own the happy lines, How the wit brightens! how the style refines!
Interpretation
The quote reflects on how the value of poetry is heightened by its association with status and privilege.
In this quote, Alexander Pope critiques the perception of poetry and its worth depending on the reputation of the author rather than the quality of the work itself. He suggests that a piece of writing, regardless of its artistic merit, gains significance and appeal when it is affiliated with someone of high social standing, illustrating the disparity between genuine artistry and social elitism in the realm of literature.
In practice
In a speech about the value of art, one could use this quote to highlight the influence of social status on artistic perception.
Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame.
What dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things.
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare; And beauty draws us with a single hair.
An honest man's the noblest work of God.
One thought of thee puts all the pomp to flight;_x000D_ _x000D_ Priests, tapers, temples, swim before my sight.
Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?
Writing a new play shouldn't be seen as a mystery belonging to a priesthood, but as a challenge, a technical challenge, just to get into it.
I just use fashion as an excuse to talk about politics. Because I'm a fashion designer, it gives me a voice, which is really good.
Television excites me because it seems to be the last stamping ground of poetry, the last place where I hear women's hair rhapsodically described, women's faces acclaimed in odelike language.
Music may be the activity that prepared our pre-human ancestors for speech communication and for the very cognitive, representational flexibility necessary to become humans.
You may choose your words like a connoisseur, And polish it up with art, But the word that sways, and stirs, and stays, Is the word that comes from the heart.
I'd like to get something together - like a Handel, Bach, Muddy waters, flamenco type of thing. If I could get that sound, I'd be happy
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