To have nothing to say and to say it in a tragic manner is not the same thing as having something to say.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Saying nothing tragically is not the same as saying something meaningful.
- In plain terms
- Being dramatic about nothing is not meaningful.
- What can you take from it?
- Ensure your words carry substance before styling them.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does tone matter if there is no content?
- How do you know if you have something to say?
Another view
Sometimes style itself can be the substance in art.
More from Wallace Stevens
The imagination is one of the forces of nature.
Permalink to quote #210 Man is an eternal sophomore.
Permalink to quote #212 Poetry is a purging of the world's poverty and change and evil and death. It is a present perfecting, a satisfaction in the irremediable poverty of life.
Permalink to quote #209
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