The man of understanding can no more sit quiet and resigned while his country lets literature decay than a good doctor could sit quiet and contented while some ignorant child was infecting itself with tuberculosis under the impression that it was merely eating jam tarts.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A knowledgeable person cannot remain passive when their nation neglects literature, just as a doctor cannot ignore a child harming itself.
- In plain terms
- Experts have a duty to act when culture or health is in danger.
- What can you take from it?
- Ignoreence in the face of cultural decay is unacceptable for those who understand it.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What responsibility do experts owe their society?
- When is silence complicity?
Another view
This assumes the individual has the power to stop such decay without broader support.
More from Ezra Pound
Any general statement is like a cheque drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it.
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Permalink to quote #11 Literature is news that STAYS news.
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