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Quote by Dana Gioia

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Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture is a thought-provoking compilation that examines the relevance and influence of poetry within the context of American culture. The essays within this volume discuss the importance of poetry, its ability to reflect and shape societal values, and its enduring presence in the American literary landscape. more

Author

Dana Gioia
Dana Gioia

Dana Gioia, born on December 24, 1950, is an accomplished American poet known for his profound emotions and rich imagination in his works. more

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“Maybe philosophical problems are hard not because they are divine or irreducible or meaningless or workaday science, but because the mind of Homo sapiens lacks the cognitive equipment to solve them. We are organisms, not angels, and our minds are organs, not pipelines to the truth. Our minds evolved by natural selection to solve problems that were life-and-death matters to our ancestors, not to commune with correctness ot to answer any question we are capable of asking.”

“The appearance of strength is all about you. It would seem to last forever. However... the rotten tree-trunk, until the very moment when the storm-blast breaks it in two, has all the appearance of might it ever had. The storm-blast whistles through the branches of the Empire even now. Listen... and you will hear the creaking.”

“The theoretical fruits of deliberate oversimplification through idealization are not to be denied... Reality in all its messy particularity is too complicated to theorize about, taken straight. The issue is, rather (since every idealization is a strategic choice), which idealizations might really shed some light... which will just land us... diverting fairy tales.”