
“Through it [literature] we know the past, govern the present, and influence the future.”
Source: The Man-Made World
The Natural History of Nonsense.
“Through it [literature] we know the past, govern the present, and influence the future.”
Source: The Man-Made World
Session 463, Page 241
The Early Sessions: Sessions 1-42, 1997, The Early Sessions: Book 9
A Retrospective Glance at the Lifework of a Master of Books
Fragments of a Poetics of Fire (1988)
Interview with Stanley Koehler (April 1962), in The Paris Review : Writers at Work, 3rd series, Viking Penguin, p. 29
General sources
Context: The art of the poem nowadays is something unstable; but at least the construction of the poem should make sense; you should know where you stand. Many questions haven't been answered as yet. Our poets may be wrong; but what can any of us do with his talent but try to develop his vision, so that through frequent failures we may learn better what we have missed in the past.
Alternate translation: We go to great pains to alter life for the happiness of our descendants and our descendants will say as usual: things used to be so much better, life today is worse than it used to be.
Мы хлопочем, чтобы изменить жизнь, чтобы потомки были счастливы, а потомки скажут по обыкновению: прежде лучше было, теперешняя жизнь хуже прежней.
Note-Book of Anton Chekhov (1921)
As quoted in the Sunday Mail, Glasgow.
Talking Climate Change with Anthony Watts http://townhall.com/columnists/billsteigerwald/2009/04/20/talking_climate_change_with_anthony_watts/page/full/ townhall.com, Apr 20, 2009.
2009
Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath