"We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry"
- William Butler Yeats
About this Quote
This quote by William Butler Yeats speaks with the concept that when we remain in dispute with others, we frequently use rhetoric to express our difference. Rhetoric is a form of interaction that is often utilized to convince or affect others. However, when we are in conflict with ourselves, we typically utilize poetry to express our inner turmoil. Poetry is a form of innovative expression that allows us to explore our feelings and thoughts in a more meaningful method. This quote recommends that when we remain in conflict with ourselves, we should use poetry to reveal our inner struggles, instead of rhetoric. By doing so, we can acquire a better understanding of our own feelings and ideas, and ultimately pertained to a resolution.
"I think Ginsberg has done more harm to the craft that I honor and live by than anybody else by reducing it to a kind of mean that enables the most dubious practitioners to claim they are poets because they think, If the kind of thing Ginsberg does is poetry, I can do that"
"Nothing truly convincing - which would possess thoroughness, vigor, and skill - has been written against the ancients as yet; especially not against their poetry"
"The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs"
"A book is sent out into the world, and there is no way of fully anticipating the responses it will elicit. Consider the responses called forth by the Bible, Homer, Shakespeare - let alone contemporary poetry or a modern novel"
