“Those who perceive in themselves... the artistic vocation as poet, writer, sculptor, painter, musician, and actor feel at the same time an obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it to service of their neighbour and the humanity as a whole.” FeelsWholeHumanityOrderActorsTalentPoetWasteMusicianObligationPainterArtisticPerceiveVocationNeighbourSculptors Author:Pope John Paul II
“One more royal trait properly belongs to the poet. I mean his cheerfulness, without which no man can be a poet,--for beauty is his aim. He loves virtue, not for its obligation, but for its grace; he delights in the world, in man, in woman, for the lovely light that sparkles from them. Beauty, the spirit of joy and hilarity, he sheds over the universe.” MenWorldMeanLightJoySpiritUniverseVirtueGracePoetAimDelightLovelyObligationTraitsShedRoyalCheerfulnessSparkleHilarity Book:Representative Men: Seven Lectures Source: Representative Men: Seven Lectures
“If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty, he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet.” IfsWritingWellsHandsChoicesFailingPoetDutyObligationWell BeingMinoritiesOblivion Author:Joseph Brodsky
“For the poets, my hope is that they will, quite simply, feel the obligation to be really informed about the situation in which we find ourselves, in terms of our imperiled planet. You should inform yourself so deeply that it becomes part of your nature, part of your voice.” FeelsShouldVoiceTermSituationPlanetsPoetObligation Author:Alison Hawthorne Deming
“I personally believe the role of poets as poets (which is something different from our obligations as citizens, community members, humans) is to write poems. I believe this because I am quite sure poetry can do something no other form or writing, or human activity, can, at least not in such a powerful and distilled and undeniable way. And that we need this type of thinking for our survival as individuals and as a species.” ThinkingWritingBelieveDifferentIndividualI BelieveCommunityPowerfulPoetSurvivalObligation Author:Matthew Zapruder
“I think the obligation of a poet is not to be in an ivory tower; it is not to be isolated but to be among people.” PeopleThinkingPoetObligation Author:Maria Teresa Horta