“I wish I was more cheerful, it is more pleasant,
Also it is a duty, we should smile as well as submitting
To the purpose of One Above who is experimenting
With various mixtures of human character which goes best,
All is interesting for him it is exciting, but not for us.
There I go again. Smile, smile, and get some work to do
Then you will be practically unconscious without positively having to go.”

—  Stevie Smith

"Thoughts about the Person from Porlock (continued)"
Selected Poems (1962)

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Stevie Smith 18
poet, novelist, illustrator, performer 1902–1971

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