“It is worthwhile adding that the power of the poem to teach not only sensibilities and the subtle movements of the spirit but knowledge, real lasting felt knowledge, is going mostly unnoticed among our scholars. The body of knowledge locked into and releasable from poetry can replace practically any university in the Republic. First things first, then: the primal importance of a poem is what it can add to the individual mind.Poetry is the voice of a poet at its birth, and the voice of a people in its ultimate fulfillment as a successful and useful work of art.” PeopleMindFirstsArtRealBodySpiritIndividualFeltVoiceTeachSuccessfulMovementPoetBirthUltimateImportanceAddUniversityFulfillmentSubtlePoetry IsLastingWorks Of ArtRepublicWorthwhileScholarLockedSensibilityPrimalUnnoticedFirst Things First Author:Guy Davenport
“Prison does strange things to men. Although its purpose is to break the free spirit of a man, in many cases it just adds fuel to the fire that has never been and will never be extinguished.” MenDoeSpiritPurposeBreakCasesFireStrangePrisonAddFuelStrange ThingsFree Spirit Author:William Powell
“There's an inherent limit to the stress that any material can bear. Water has its boiling point, metals their melting points. The elements of the spirit behave the same way. Happiness can reach a pitch so great that any further happiness can't be felt. Pain, despair, humiliation, disgust, and fear are no different. Once the vessel is full, the world can't add to it.” WorldWayDifferentPainSpiritFeltWaterMaterialsBearsLimitsDespairElementsStressAddBehaveMetalsDisgustingInherentHumiliationVesselMeltingBoilingBoiling Point Book:The Post-office Girl Source: The Post-office Girl
“It is a union with a Higher Good by love, that alone is endless perfection. The only sufficient object for man must be something that adds to and perfects his nature, to which he must be united in love; somewhat higher than himself, yea, the highest of all, the Father of spirits. That alone completes a spirit and blesses it, - to love Him, the spring of spirits.” MenSpiritFatherUnitedObjectsHigherHighestSpringPerfectionAddUnionsEndlessSufficientBless Author:Robert B. Leighton
“At every crossway on the path that leads to the future, each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand men appointed to guard the past. Let us have no fear that the fair towers of former days be sufficiently defended. The least that the most timid among us can do is not to add to the immense dead weight that nature drags along.” MenPastSpiritCan DoPathThousandFairsWeightAddFormerPersistenceProgressiveDragImmenseTowersNo FearHave No Fear Author:Maurice Maeterlinck
“In part of Lord Kames' Elements of Criticism, he says that "music improves the relish of a banquet." That I deny,--any more than painting might do. They may both be additional pleasures, as well as conversation is, but are perfectly distinct notices; and cannot, with the least propriety, be said to mix or blend with the repast, as none of them serve to raise the flavor of the wine, the sauce, the meat, or help to quicken appetite. But music and painting both add a spirit to devotion, and elevate the ardor.” WellsMaySaidHelpingMightSpiritPleasureMusicLordPaintingConversationElementsCriticismRaisesWineAddDenyDevotionMeatAppetiteFlavorSauceRelishProprietyBanquetsArdor Author:Laurence Sterne