--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hesitate once, hesitate twice, hesitate a…" description: "\"“Hesitate once, hesitate twice, hesitate a hundred times before employing political standards as a device for the analysis and appreciation of poetry.”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/christopher-hitchens-117_gratitude_hesitate-once-hesitate-twice-hesitate-a_1491828.jpg" --- # Hesitate once, hesitate twice, hesitate a hundred times… ![“Hesitate once, hesitate twice, hesitate a hundred times before employing political standards as a device for the analysis and appreciation of poetry.” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/christopher-hitchens-117_gratitude_hesitate-once-hesitate-twice-hesitate-a_1491828.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/christopher-hitchens-117_gratitude_hesitate-once-hesitate-twice-hesitate-a_1491828.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/315/christopher-hitchens-117_gratitude_hesitate-once-hesitate-twice-hesitate-a_1491828.jpg) > ““Hesitate once, hesitate twice, hesitate a hundred times before employing political standards as a device for the analysis and appreciation of poetry.”” [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He warns against over‑analyzing poetry with political lenses. **In simple terms:** Avoid politicizing poetry. Key Takeaway Read poetry for its own art. Themes literary criticism politics interpretation Mood analytical skeptical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic analysis - public discourse - education Key Concepts political bias poetic purity Questions to Reflect On - When is political reading useful? - How to balance art and politics? 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Eliot in After Strange Gods .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/remember-that-it-is-free-thinking-jews-not-jews-as-such-who-are/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“And I wonder, therefore, how James Atlas can have been so indulgent in his recent essay ‘The Changing World of New York Intellectuals.’ This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/and-i-wonder-therefore-how-james-atlas-can-have-been-so-indulgent-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [In fact, I was very conscious of my accent and used to hesitate in talking to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amrapali-gupta/in-fact-i-was-very-conscious-of-my-accent-and-used-to-hesitate-in/) [Amrapali Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amrapali-gupta/) > [“Do not hesitate to do that which you have been called to do for fear of being unworthy, for it is in doing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-l-saloff/do-not-hesitate-to-do-that-which-you-have-been-called-to-do-for-fear/) [Jamie L. 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TRUST ME I wont hesitate to talk SH\*T about you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thanks-for-talking-sh-t-about-me-trust-me-i-wont-hesitate-to-talk-sh/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Unfortunately, 'climate' has become a dirty word - obviously in politics, but even to some degree in my world, in venture capital. People hesitate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-williams/unfortunately-climate-has-become-a-dirty-word-obviously-in-politics/) [Evan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-williams/) > [“Don’t hesitate to tell your friends how much you love them. 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