“There are dangers for an artist in any academic environment. Academia rewards people who know their own minds and have developed an ironclad confidence in speaking them. That kind of assurance is death for an artist.” PeopleKnowsMindKindArtistEnvironmentDangerRewardsAcademicAssuranceAcademiaIronclads Author:Christian Wiman
“One of the qualities essential to being good at reading poetry is also one of the qualities essential to being good at life: a capacity for surprise. It’s easy to become so mired in our likes or dislikes that we can no longer recall that person who once responded to poems—and to people—without any preconceived notions of what we wanted them to be.” PeoplePersonsWantedReadingEasyQualityEssentialsCapacitySurpriseNotionBe GoodLikesPoetry IsDislikeRecallsPreconceived NotionsReading Poetry Author:Christian Wiman
“It is easy enough to write and talk about God while remaining comfortable within the contemporary intellectual climate. Even people who would call themselves unbelievers often use the word gesturally, as a ready-made synonym for mystery. But if nature abhors a vacuum, Christ abhors a vagueness. If God is love, Christ is love for this one person, this one place, this one time-bound and time-ravaged self.” PeopleIfsWritingPersonsMadeSelfEnoughUseEasyChristMysteryReadyComfortableIntellectualClimateBoundsContemporaryOne TimeVacuumsGod Is LoveUnbelieversSynonymVagueness Author:Christian Wiman
