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Quote by Robert Bly

“Poetry keeps longing alive.”

Quote by Robert Bly

Author

Robert Bly, born on December 23, 1926, is a renowned American poet. His poetry is known for its profound emotion and rich imagination, which has had a profound impact on contemporary poetry. more

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“Some people can't go into church any longer to feel this longing, but they still have the longing, so what do they do? Well, one thing you can do is what people do in prison; they turn to poetry.”

People Feels Wells Stills Turns Can Do Church One Thing Longing Prison

Author:Robert Bly

“I think that poetry is important when you are shipwrecked, when the ordinary structures that hold you up are gone.”

Thinking Important Gone Ordinary Structure Poetry Is

Author:Robert Bly

“There are very few adults in our culture able to imagine any genuine life coming from the vertical plane - tradition, religion, or devotion.”

Able Culture Imagine Adults Tradition Genuine Devotion Planes Vertical Genuine Life

Author:Robert Bly

“Myth and poetry represent a reservoir of vertical thinking, which we could also call longing and gratitude to ancestors. We need that gratitude desperately.”

Thinking Needs Gratitude Longing Myth Ancestor Reservoirs Vertical

Author:Robert Bly

“Vertical attention is not the same as, and doesn't evolve from nor imply, hierarchy. We could say that hierarchy is associated with power, and vertical attention with longing for the Divine Feminine, for the Divine Masculine, for what the Sufis call 'wine.'”

Attention Divine Wine Longing Evolve Feminine Sufi Masculine Hierarchy Vertical Divine Feminine

Author:Robert Bly

“The Roman Catholic Church early on simply adapted the hierarchical structure of the Roman Empire and confused the whole thing. Vertical attention and hierarchy were so entangled, that when the French killed the king during the Revolution, they lost much of their vertical attention too.”

Whole Lost Church Attention Revolution Kings Catholic Structure Confused Empires Hierarchy Catholic Church Adapted Roman Empire Vertical Roman Catholic Roman Catholic Church

Author:Robert Bly

“The French still offer Sartre and Derrida rather than Pascal.”

Stills Offers Pascal Derrida

Author:Robert Bly

“If you want to know what it will be like when we are more deeply into the horizontal, simply go to one of the Indian casinos. The Native Americans, who stand for vertical thinking more than anyone else in our culture, have been setting up totally flat casinos for honkies.”

Ifs Thinking Knows Want Has Beens Culture Setting Settings Indian Native Flats Native American Casinos Vertical Horizontal

Author:Robert Bly

“Adolescents are in just as much trouble in Native America as they are in the white community.”

America Community White Trouble Native Native America

Author:Robert Bly

“The distance between the adolescent and the true adult is about five thousand miles, but the distance between the adult and the elder is almost as large.”

Five Thousand Adults Distance Miles Elders Thousand Miles

Author:Robert Bly