
“It’s better for the whole world to know you, even as a sex star, than never to be known at all.”
“It’s better for the whole world to know you, even as a sex star, than never to be known at all.”
“But maybe it's better to go after something, and not get it, than to not even try.”
Source: The Crimson Crown
Acceptance speech for the 1970 National Medal for Literature, New York, New York (2 December 1970)
Context: If, in the middle of World War II, a general could be writing a poem, then maybe I was not so irrelevant after all. Maybe the general was doing more for victory by writing a poem than he would be by commanding an army. At least, he might be doing less harm. By applying the same logic to my own condition, I decided that I might be relevant in what I called a negative way. I have clung to this concept ever since — negative relevance. In moments of vain-glory I even entertain the possibility that if my concept were more widely accepted, the world might be a better place to live in. There are a lot of people who would make better citizens if they were content to be just negatively relevant.
1950-07-06
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath (2000)
Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
Song lyrics, Knocked Out Loaded (1986), Brownsville Girl (with Sam Shepard)