“Liberal hopefulness
Regards death as a mere border to an improving picture.”

"Ignorance of Death", line 11; cited from John Haffenden (ed.) The Complete Poems (London: Allen Lane, 2000) p. 78.
The Complete Poems

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Liberal hopefulness Regards death as a mere border to an improving picture." by William Empson?
William Empson photo
William Empson 25
English literary critic and poet 1906–1984

Related quotes

Ernesto Che Guevara photo

“There are no borders in this struggle to the death.”

Ernesto Che Guevara (1928–1967) Argentine Marxist revolutionary

Afro-Asian Conference (1965)
Context: There are no borders in this struggle to the death. We cannot be indifferent to what happens anywhere in the world, because a victory by any country over imperialism is our victory, just as any country's defeat is a defeat for all of us.

David Frum photo

“When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders, then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do.”

David Frum (1960) American political commentator

"The Roots of a Counterproductive Immigration Policy" https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/an-immigration-order-as-stupid-as-it-is-counterproductive/514847/, The Atlantic (28 January 2017)

Joseph Hall photo

“Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in the grave.”

Joseph Hall (1574–1656) British bishop

Epistles, Decade III, epistle 2. Compare: "And cradles rock us nearer to the tomb./Our birth is nothing but our death begun", Edward Young, Night Thoughts, night v., line 718.

Milton Friedman photo
Kurien Kunnumpuram photo

“To be a Satanist is not to be liberated. It is to be bonded to death.”

Sean Sellers (1969–1999) American murderer

Open Letter To Satanists
Context: To be a Satanist is not to be liberated. It is to be bonded to death. The freedom it offers is an illusion. And this is something I know every Satanist knows, because I was there. In the dark and quiet, all alone, without the buzz of alcohol or drugs, or the rhythm of music to drown out the sounds, there is an empty echo inside us. A vacancy. A feeling of loss and cold and turmoil and hunger. That emptiness gnaws and hurts worse than anything else in life; we take up knives to carve our skin just to escape it, or run into the arms of a lover to smother it, but it doesn't go away. It grows. It is death at work, emptiness causing decay. No matter how much we feed it SIN, it will never fill up.

Jacques Derrida photo
Philip K. Dick photo

“The Neanderthal probably thought the Cro-Magnon man had merely an improved line. A little more advanced ability to conjure up symbols and shape flint. From your description, this thing is more radical than a mere improvement.”

Philip K. Dick (1928–1982) American author

"This thing," Baines said slowly, "has an ability to predict. So far, it's been able to stay alive. It's been able to cope with situations better than you or I could. How long do you think we'd stay alive in that chamber, with energy beams blazing down at us? In a sense it's got the ultimate survival ability. If it can always be accurate —"
The Golden Man (1954)

Alfred Horsley Hinton photo

“…skies and clouds were still regarded as something quite apart from the rest of the picture, and, indeed, are still so regarded by the less advanced.”

Alfred Horsley Hinton (1863–1908) British photographer

Source: Practical Pictorial Photography, 1898, Clouds. Their use, and practical instructions as to how to photography them, p. 92

Related topics