Share this Brodsky, Joseph quote - If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Bein...

Share this quote easily

"If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty, he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet. A majority by definition, society thinks of itself as having other options than reading verses, no matter how well written. Its failure to do so results in its sinking to that level of locution at which society falls easy prey to a demagogue or a tyrant. This is society's own equivalent of oblivion."
- Brodsky, Joseph

<blockquote><a href="http://quotationsbook.com/quote/30678">If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty, he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet. A majority by definition, society thinks of itself as having other options than reading verses, no matter how well written. Its failure to do so results in its sinking to that level of locution at which society falls easy prey to a demagogue or a tyrant. This is society's own equivalent of oblivion.</a></blockquote><br> <a href="http://quotationsbook.com/author/1004/">Brodsky, Joseph</a> on <a href="http://quotationsbook.com/subject/poetry_and_poets/">Poetry and Poets</a><br> Quote from <a href="http://quotationsbook.com">Quotations Book</a>

Hey! Are you on Facebook? Add our facebook application for finding and sharing and bookmarking ALL our quotes!

Would you like to email it to someone?

Click here and use the "email it" tab on the right side

Also .. quotes of the day!

Maybe you want to put our Quotes of the Day with pictures on your social profile/website, etc. Just go here, and paste the code! There's more ways too.