“One of the limits of reality
Presents itself in Oley when the hay,
Baked through long days, is piled in mows. It is
A land too ripe for enigmas, too serene.…”
"Credences of Summer"
Collected Poems (1954)
Context: One of the limits of reality
Presents itself in Oley when the hay,
Baked through long days, is piled in mows. It is
A land too ripe for enigmas, too serene.…
Things stop in that direction and since they stop
The direction stops and we accept what is
As good. The utmost must be good and is…
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Wallace Stevens 278
American poet 1879–1955Related quotes

“And the ripe harvest of the new-mown hay
Gives it a sweet and wholesome odour.”
Act V, scene 3.
Richard III (altered) (1700)

Source: The Economic Illusion (1984), Chapter 1, Equality and Efficiency, p. 14

“No, this is not a good town for psychedelic drugs. Reality itself is too twisted.”
Source: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

"We Need a Radical Left," The Nation (29 June 1998)
Context: By definition, the conventional wisdom of the day is widely accepted, continually reiterated and regarded not as ideology but as reality itself. Rebelling against "reality," even when its limitations are clearly perceived, is always difficult. It means deciding things can be different and ought to be different; that your own perceptions are right and the experts and authorities wrong; that your discontent is legitimate and not merely evidence of selfishness, failure or refusal to grow up. Recognizing that "reality" is not inevitable makes it more painful; subversive thoughts provoke the urge to subversive action. But such action has consequences — rebels risk losing their jobs, failing in school, incurring the wrath of parents and spouses, suffering social ostracism. Often vociferous conservatism is sheer defensiveness: People are afraid to be suckers, to get their hopes up, to rethink their hard-won adjustments, to be branded bad or crazy.

“Humor (is) the process that allows one to brush reality aside when it gets too distressing.”
Source: Anthology of Black Humor

Der Dichter, 1910. Alle Verk, x. 24.

“Nothing is wholly obvious without becoming enigmatic. Reality itself is too obvious to be true.”
1990s, The Perfect Crime (1993)