--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Being a poet in the States is quite…" description: "\"Being a poet in the States is quite different from being one in China, because in the States poetry depends on the universities for its support. They f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f6/bei-dao-38500_can-t-change_being-a-poet-in-the-states-is-quite-diff_213837.jpg" --- # Being a poet in the States is quite different from being… ![“Being a poet in the States is quite different from being one in China, because in the States poetry depends on the universities for its support. They finance the poets and help them get published. That isn't so in China. But overall it is the same. You can't change society with poetry.” quote by Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f6/bei-dao-38500_can-t-change_being-a-poet-in-the-states-is-quite-diff_213837.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f6/bei-dao-38500_can-t-change_being-a-poet-in-the-states-is-quite-diff_213837.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f6/bei-dao-38500_can-t-change_being-a-poet-in-the-states-is-quite-diff_213837.jpg) > “Being a poet in the States is quite different from being one in China, because in the States poetry depends on the universities for its support. They finance the poets and help them get published. That isn't so in China. But overall it is the same. You can't change society with poetry.” [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry in the U.S. relies on academic support, unlike China; yet both face limits in societal impact. **In simple terms:** US poetry is funded by universities, China’s is not; both struggle to change society. Key Takeaway Recognize structural limits of poetry. Themes poetry funding culture Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - literary festivals - grant applications - public readings Key Concepts artistic influence institutional support cross‑cultural comparison Questions to Reflect On - Can poetry influence public opinion? - What alternative avenues amplify poetic voices? A Different Perspective Poetry may inspire but rarely drives policy change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Can't change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-t-change/) [China](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/china/) [Finance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finance/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) ## Related quotes > [ The society was so different \[in China\] - it was a feudalistic society. It didn't come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/the-society-was-so-different-in-china-it-was-a-feudalistic-society-it/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [The way business is conducted on a governmental and legal aspect is completely different in China. The idea for us to have Facebook or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-barnett/the-way-business-is-conducted-on-a-governmental-and-legal-aspect-is/) [Josh Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-barnett/) > [The United States' poetry emerged when there was a high literacy rate in the United States, even in the 19th century. People read the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eavan-boland/the-united-states-poetry-emerged-when-there-was-a-high-literacy-rate/) [Eavan Boland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eavan-boland/) > [Poetry depends on being simultaneously opaque and transparent. It can't be only one or the other. The pebble and the pool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-daniels/poetry-depends-on-being-simultaneously-opaque-and-transparent-it-can/) [Peter J. Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-daniels/) > [In the United States, in poetry workshops, it's now quite a thing to make graduate students learn poems by heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/in-the-united-states-in-poetry-workshops-it-s-now-quite-a-thing-to/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“I am committed by trade to urging people to attend carefully to the verbal surfaces of what they read. Much of the pleasure and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/i-am-committed-by-trade-to-urging-people-to-attend-carefully-to-the/) [Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/) > [Most poetry is the utterance of a man in some state of passion, love, joy, grief, rage, etc., and no doubt this is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/most-poetry-is-the-utterance-of-a-man-in-some-state-of-passion-love/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“Intellectual freedom depends upon material things. Poetry depends upon intellectual freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/intellectual-freedom-depends-upon-material-things-poetry-depends-upon/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [On the one hand poetry is useless. It can't change the world materially. On the other hand it is a basic part of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/on-the-one-hand-poetry-is-useless-it-can-t-change-the-world/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/though-i-can-t-change-what-happened-i-can-choose-how-to-react-and-i/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [Congress decides who becomes a citizen and how. To automatically say the 14th Amendment grants birthright citizenship, no, we can't change that. Amending the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/congress-decides-who-becomes-a-citizen-and-how-to-automatically-say/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I don't worry about the things I can't change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/i-don-t-worry-about-the-things-i-can-t-change/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [You can't change a man, no-ways. By the time his mummy turns him loose and he takes up with some innocent woman and marries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/you-can-t-change-a-man-no-ways-by-the-time-his-mummy-turns-him-loose/) [Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/) > [You can't change your life. This mode in literature goes against the more middle-brown mode, which is about shaping your destiny, changing it. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-mccarthy/you-can-t-change-your-life-this-mode-in-literature-goes-against-the/) Tommy McCarthy > [Donʹt worry now about what you canʹt change. Rest when you can so youʹll be ready for tomorrowʹs battles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/don-t-worry-now-about-what-you-can-t-change-rest-when-you-can-so-you/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) ## More by Bei Dao > [“the bouquet Between me and the world you are a bay, a sail the faithful ends of a rope you are a fountain, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/the-bouquet-between-me-and-the-world-you-are-a-bay-a-sail-the/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [On the one hand poetry is useless. It can't change the world materially. On the other hand it is a basic part of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/on-the-one-hand-poetry-is-useless-it-can-t-change-the-world/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [Freedom is nothing but the distance between the hunter and the hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/freedom-is-nothing-but-the-distance-between-the-hunter-and-the-hunted/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [Perhaps the final hour is come I have left no testament Only a pen, for my mother I am no hero in an age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/perhaps-the-final-hour-is-come-i-have-left-no-testament-only-a-pen/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [The name Bei Dao was actually given to me with the help of friends. When we were publishing our unofficial magazine, Today, we wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/the-name-bei-dao-was-actually-given-to-me-with-the-help-of-friends/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [As a writer, the most important thing for me is to continue to write, no matter where I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/as-a-writer-the-most-important-thing-for-me-is-to-continue-to-write/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [I don't think of writing my poems for China or for the world. I mainly think of a small audience of friends and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/i-don-t-think-of-writing-my-poems-for-china-or-for-the-world-i-mainly/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [Writing is the thing that sustains me and keeps me going. It is a form of self-preservation for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/writing-is-the-thing-that-sustains-me-and-keeps-me-going-it-is-a-form/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [In the world I am Always a stranger I do not understand its language It does not understand my silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/in-the-world-i-am-always-a-stranger-i-do-not-understand-its-language/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) > [Bei Dao became the most well-known name for me because of certain criticism of my work. Bei Dao was the name under which my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bei-dao/bei-dao-became-the-most-well-known-name-for-me-because-of-certain/) [Bei Dao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) [Explore all 11 Bei Dao quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bei-dao/) ## More Can't change quotes > [Donʹt worry now about what you canʹt change. Rest when you can so youʹll be ready for tomorrowʹs battles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/don-t-worry-now-about-what-you-can-t-change-rest-when-you-can-so-you/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [You can't change your life. This mode in literature goes against the more middle-brown mode, which is about shaping your destiny, changing it. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-mccarthy/you-can-t-change-your-life-this-mode-in-literature-goes-against-the/) Tommy McCarthy > [You can't change a man, no-ways. By the time his mummy turns him loose and he takes up with some innocent woman and marries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/you-can-t-change-a-man-no-ways-by-the-time-his-mummy-turns-him-loose/) [Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings/) > [I don't worry about the things I can't change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/i-don-t-worry-about-the-things-i-can-t-change/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [Congress decides who becomes a citizen and how. To automatically say the 14th Amendment grants birthright citizenship, no, we can't change that. Amending the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/congress-decides-who-becomes-a-citizen-and-how-to-automatically-say/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/though-i-can-t-change-what-happened-i-can-choose-how-to-react-and-i/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [When a poem is really finished, you can't change anything. You can't move words around. You can't say, 'In other words, you mean.' No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/when-a-poem-is-really-finished-you-can-t-change-anything-you-can-t/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [The only thing one can usually change in one's situation is oneself. And yet one can't change that either-only ask Our Lord to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-only-thing-one-can-usually-change-in-one-s-situation-is-oneself/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I can't change my gender, and I refuse to stop making movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-bigelow/i-can-t-change-my-gender-and-i-refuse-to-stop-making-movies/) [Kathryn Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-bigelow/) > [But I think it's more that when you're young, you're invincible, you're immortal - or at least you think you are. The possibilities are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damien-hirst/but-i-think-it-s-more-that-when-you-re-young-you-re-invincible-you-re/) [Damien Hirst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damien-hirst/) > [You can't change t he wor ld f rom t he rear view mir ror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/you-can-t-change-t-he-wor-ld-f-rom-t-he-rear-view-mir-ror/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [You can't change your attitude because you're the champion. I've always kept my feet on the ground and never wanted to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renan-barao/you-can-t-change-your-attitude-because-you-re-the-champion-i-ve/) Renan Barao > [By the time you're 30, you know who you are inside. You learn to laugh at things you can't change; you learn to be yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kajol/by-the-time-you-re-30-you-know-who-you-are-inside-you-learn-to-laugh/) [Kajol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kajol/) > [Those that can't change even their toothbrush and pyjamas are trying to change the world! Let us be serious!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/those-that-can-t-change-even-their-toothbrush-and-pyjamas-are-trying/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [The message I'm sending to myself - I can't change the world until I change myself first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-lamar/the-message-i-m-sending-to-myself-i-can-t-change-the-world-until-i/) [Kendrick Lamar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-lamar/) [Browse all 311 Can't change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-t-change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Being a poet in the States is quite different from being one in China, because in the States poetry depends on the universities for its support. They finance the poets and help them get published. That isn't so in China. But overall it is the same. 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