--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't live for poetry. I live far more…" description: "\"I don't live for poetry. I live far more than anybody else does.\" — Charles Olson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/charles-olson-11645_doe_i-don-t-live-for-poetry-i-live-far-more_1130783.jpg" --- # I don't live for poetry. I live far more than anybody else… ![“I don't live for poetry. I live far more than anybody else does.” quote by Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/charles-olson-11645_doe_i-don-t-live-for-poetry-i-live-far-more_1130783.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/charles-olson-11645_doe_i-don-t-live-for-poetry-i-live-far-more_1130783.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/charles-olson-11645_doe_i-don-t-live-for-poetry-i-live-far-more_1130783.jpg) > “I don't live for poetry. I live far more than anybody else does.” [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker values living a full, active life over poetic contemplation. **In simple terms:** Living fully matters more than poetry. Key Takeaway Prioritize action over contemplation. Themes life experience purpose Mood reflective determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily routine - career pursuits - personal growth - relationships Key Concepts existentialism humanism Questions to Reflect On - How do you measure a life well‑lived? - What does “more than poetry” mean to you? A Different Perspective Poetry can still enrich life if balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [“If poetry is what you live for then do it write.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-engelhardt/if-poetry-is-what-you-live-for-then-do-it-write/) [R.M. Engelhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-engelhardt/) > [Sufi poetry is, in a sense, self-help poetry about how to live a decent life, how to deal with your mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/sufi-poetry-is-in-a-sense-self-help-poetry-about-how-to-live-a-decent/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [There are three good things in this world. 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I don't care what they do with it. I do what I want to with other people's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mose-allison/i-m-happy-whenever-anybody-does-my-material-i-don-t-care-what-they-do/) [Mose Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mose-allison/) > [I think an artist is anybody who does something well, like if you cook well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-think-an-artist-is-anybody-who-does-something-well-like-if-you-cook/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) ## More by Charles Olson > [“this is the abstract, this is the cold doing, this is the almost impossible”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/this-is-the-abstract-this-is-the-cold-doing-this-is-the-almost/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [There are no hierarchies, no infinite, no such many as mass, there are only/ eyes in all heads,/ to be looked out of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/there-are-no-hierarchies-no-infinite-no-such-many-as-mass-there-are/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [Forgive me if I sleep until I wake up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/forgive-me-if-i-sleep-until-i-wake-up/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [by night only crazy things like the full moon and the whippoorwill and us, are busy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/by-night-only-crazy-things-like-the-full-moon-and-the-whippoorwill/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [“Objectivism is the getting rid of the lyrical interference of the individual as ego, of the “subject” and his soul, that peculiar presumption by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/objectivism-is-the-getting-rid-of-the-lyrical-interference-of-the/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [I defer to all these other American poets who, for some reason, I both envy and admire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/i-defer-to-all-these-other-american-poets-who-for-some-reason-i-both/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [I was playing catch with the European audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/i-was-playing-catch-with-the-european-audience/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [All that matters is that the thing be the thing of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/all-that-matters-is-that-the-thing-be-the-thing-of-the-thing/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [“If he stays inside himself, if he is contained within his nature as he is participant in the larger force, he will be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/if-he-stays-inside-himself-if-he-is-contained-within-his-nature-as-he/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [This morning of the small snow I count the blessings, the leak in the faucet which makes of the sink time, the drop of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/this-morning-of-the-small-snow-i-count-the-blessings-the-leak-in-the/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [bees dig the plum blossoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/bees-dig-the-plum-blossoms/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [I'm one of the cliches that has grown up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/i-m-one-of-the-cliches-that-has-grown-up/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [The body whips the soul. In its great desire it demands the elixir In the roar of spring, transmutations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/the-body-whips-the-soul-in-its-great-desire-it-demands-the-elixir-in/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [“the soul is / proprioceptive”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-olson/the-soul-is-proprioceptive/) [Charles Olson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-olson/) > [You can do anything, really. 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