
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Poet
Source: The Power of Myth
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Poet
Il n'existe que trois êtres respectables: le prêtre, le guerrier, le poète. Savoir, tuer et créer. Les autres hommes sont taillables et corvéables, faits pour l'écurie, c'est-à-dire pour exercer ce qu'on appelle des professions.
Journaux intimes (1864–1867; published 1887), Mon cœur mis à nu (1864)
“I have no ambitions nor desires.
To be a poet is not my ambition,
It's simply my way of being alone.”
Não tenho ambições nem desejos
Ser poeta não é uma ambição minha
É a minha maneira de estar sozinho.
Alberto Caeiro (heteronym), O Guardador de Rebanhos ("The Keeper of Herds", tr. Richard Zenith) in Athena (January 1925)
Source: Predestination? On Why God Made Those Who Would Perish
as cited in Historics: Why History Dominates Contemporary Society, p. 135
“To be a poet is a condition rather than a profession.”
Reply to questionnaire, "The Cost of Letters" in Horizon (September 1946).
General sources
“We all write poems; it is simply that poets are the ones who write in words.”
Source: The French Lieutenant's Woman