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Quote by Muriel Rukeyser

Author

Muriel Rukeyser
Muriel Rukeyser

Muriel Rukeyser was an American poet known for her innovative use of language and her exploration of social and political themes. Born on December 15, 1913, she was a prominent figure in the literary world, particularly during the mid-20th century. Rukeyser's work often reflected her deep engagement with the human condition and her commitment to social justice. more

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“How can I look back and not speak of the stupid learning about birth? Of the stupid learning that people make love, and how it seemed the reason for all things, the intimacy of my wondering, the illumination that to an adolescent was the cause for life around me, the reason why the unhappy people I knew did not kill themselves?”

“The ultimate aim of politics is not politics, but the activities which can be practised within the political framework of the State. Therefore an effective statement of these activities - e.g. science, art, religion - is in itself a declaration of ultimate aims around which the political means will crystallise... a society with no values outside of politics is a machine carrying its human cargo, with no purpose in its institutions reflecting their care, eternal aspirations, loneliness, need for love.”

“In railway halls, on pavements near the traffic, They beg, their eyes made big by empty staring And only measuring Time , like the blank clock. No, I shall weave no tracery of pen-ornament To make them birds upon my singing tree: Time merely drives these lives which do not live As tides push rotten stuff along the shore.”