--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So the poet, who wants to be something…" description: "\"So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of his predicament that are inte..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/allen-tate-7943_automobile_so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-th_15305.jpg" --- # So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be… ![“So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of his predicament that are interesting even to other persons because nobody is a perfect automobile salesman.” quote by Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/allen-tate-7943_automobile_so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-th_15305.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/allen-tate-7943_automobile_so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-th_15305.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/allen-tate-7943_automobile_so-the-poet-who-wants-to-be-something-th_15305.jpg) > “So the poet, who wants to be something that he cannot be, and is a failure in plain life, makes up fictitious versions of his predicament that are interesting even to other persons because nobody is a perfect automobile salesman.” [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet, unable to fulfill ordinary expectations, creates imaginative narratives about his struggles, resonating with others despite personal shortcomings. **In simple terms:** Artistic self‑fiction masks real failure. Key Takeaway Creativity reframes personal inadequacy. Themes Identity Artifice Failure Empathy Narrative Mood Melancholic Reflective Wry Type Aphorism Observation When to use this quote - Writing a novel - Therapeutic journaling - Public speaking - Personal branding - Teaching literature Key Concepts Self‑presentation Social perception Creative coping Practical Applications - Therapeutic writing - Marketing storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination alter our view of personal failure? - Can fictionalizing hardship help others feel less alone? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Automobile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automobile/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Predicaments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/predicaments/) [Salesman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salesman/) ## Related quotes > [The female doesn't want a rich man or a handsome man or even a poet, she wants a man who understands her eyes if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nizar-qabbani/the-female-doesn-t-want-a-rich-man-or-a-handsome-man-or-even-a-poet/) [Nizar Qabbani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nizar-qabbani/) > [If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. 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They're not real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/the-fictitious-men-in-romance-novels-are-as-fake-and-imaginary-as/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [False judgement will only lead to a fictitious outcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mercado/false-judgement-will-only-lead-to-a-fictitious-outcome/) [Joseph Mercado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mercado/) > [The characters and events depicted in the damn bible are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-characters-and-events-depicted-in-the-damn-bible-are-fictitious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Not even I know if this I that I’m disclosing to you, in these meandering pages, actually exists or is but a fictitious, aesthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/not-even-i-know-if-this-i-that-i-m-disclosing-to-you-in-these/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Politeness is fictitious benevolence. Depend upon it, the want of it never fails to produce something disagreeable to one or other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/politeness-is-fictitious-benevolence-depend-upon-it-the-want-of-it/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The transition state of manners and language cannot be too often insisted upon: for this affected the process at both ends, giving the artist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saintsbury/the-transition-state-of-manners-and-language-cannot-be-too-often/) [George Saintsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saintsbury/) > [The state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-state-is-the-great-fictitious-entity-by-which-everyone-seeks-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [We live in a time when fictitious election results elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moore/we-live-in-a-time-when-fictitious-election-results-elect-a-fictitious/) [Michael Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moore/) > [My fictitious characters will take the bit between their teeth and gallop off and do something that I hadn't counted on. However, I always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/my-fictitious-characters-will-take-the-bit-between-their-teeth-and/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) ## More by Allen Tate > [The mission for the day is to encourage students to think beyond traditional career opportunities, prepare for future careers and entrance into the workplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/the-mission-for-the-day-is-to-encourage-students-to-think-beyond/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [There is a calm for you where men and women Unroll the chill precision of moving feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/there-is-a-calm-for-you-where-men-and-women-unroll-the-chill/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [The twilight is long fingers and black hair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/the-twilight-is-long-fingers-and-black-hair/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [What is the flesh and blood compounded ofBut a few moments in the life of time?This prowling of the cells, litigious love,Wears the long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/what-is-the-flesh-and-blood-compounded-ofbut-a-few-moments-in-the/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [In an age of abstract experience, fornication Is self-expression, adjunct to Christian euphoria, And whores become delinquents; delinquents, patients; Patients, wards of society. 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There is a solution to everything: Science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/let-us-begin-to-understand-the-argument-there-is-a-solution-to/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) > [Men cannot live forever But they must die forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-tate/men-cannot-live-forever-but-they-must-die-forever/) [Allen Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) [Explore all 86 Allen Tate quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-tate/) ## More Automobile quotes > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [There comes a day of public ceremonial, and a chance to make a speech… A million voters with IQs below 60 have their ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-comes-a-day-of-public-ceremonial-and-a-chance-to-make-a-speech/) [H. 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