“The function of criticism should not be confused with the function of reform.”
Home is the Hangman (1975)
A Testament (1957)
“The function of criticism should not be confused with the function of reform.”
Home is the Hangman (1975)
Variant: Be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
“Let nothing be called natural
In an age of bloody confusion”
The Exception and the Rule (1937), Prologue
Context: Let nothing be called natural
In an age of bloody confusion,
Ordered disorder, planned caprice,
And dehumanized humanity, lest all things
Be held unalterable!
“I would rather be confused for 10 minutes than bored for 5 seconds.”
You confuse freedom—the only freedom—with absolute tyranny…
all over this socalled world,hundreds of millions of servile and insolent inhuman unbeings are busily unrolling in the enlightenment of propaganda.
Essay in the anthology The War Poets (1945) edited by Oscar Williams
Letter IV : Heloise to Abelard
Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Context: I own, to my confusion, I fear more the offending of man than the provoking of God, and study less to please him than you. Yes, it was your command only, and not a sincere vocation, as is imagined, that shut me up in these cloisters. I fought to give you ease, and not to sanctify myself. How unhappy am I? I tear myself from all that pleases me? I bury myself here alive, I exercise my self in the most rigid fastings; and such severities as cruel laws impose on us; I feed myself with tears and sorrows, and, notwithstanding this, I deserve nothing for all the hardships I suffer. My false piety has long deceived you as well as others. You have thought me easy, and yet I was more disturbed than ever. You persuaded yourself I was wholly taken up with my duty, yet I had no business but love. Under this mistake you desire my prayers; alas! I must expect yours. Do not presume upon my virtue and my care. I am wavering, and you must fix me by your advice. I am yet feeble, you must sustain and guide me by your counsel.
Explaining Labour's defeat in the 1983 election in an interview in Marxism Today (April 1986) http://banmarchive.org.uk/collections/mt/pdf/86_04_24.pdf
1980s