--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When shall we see poets born? After a…" description: "\"When shall we see poets born? After a time of disasters and great misfortunes, when harrowed nations begin to breathe again. And then, shaken by the te..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/denis-diderot-1536_born_when-shall-we-see-poets-born-after-a-tim_3151125.png" --- # When shall we see poets born? After a time of disasters… ![“When shall we see poets born? After a time of disasters and great misfortunes, when harrowed nations begin to breathe again. And then, shaken by the terror of such spectacles, imaginations will paint things entirely strange to those who have not witnessed them.” quote by Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/denis-diderot-1536_born_when-shall-we-see-poets-born-after-a-tim_3151125.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/denis-diderot-1536_born_when-shall-we-see-poets-born-after-a-tim_3151125.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/53a/denis-diderot-1536_born_when-shall-we-see-poets-born-after-a-tim_3151125.png) > “When shall we see poets born? After a time of disasters and great misfortunes, when harrowed nations begin to breathe again. And then, shaken by the terror of such spectacles, imaginations will paint things entirely strange to those who have not witnessed them.” [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creative renewal follows collective trauma; after crises, societies produce fresh artistic visions that challenge prior norms. **In simple terms:** Crises spark new art. Key Takeaway Seek inspiration after hardship. Themes creativity rebirth history Mood hopeful inspired Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - post‑war reconstruction - social upheaval - personal loss Key Concepts cultural cycles collective trauma Questions to Reflect On - What events have reshaped your worldview? - How can we nurture art in turbulent times? A Different Perspective Art may be constrained by censorship or fear. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/born/) [Breathe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathe/) [Disaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disaster/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imaginations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imaginations/) [Misfortunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortunes/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) [Poets Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-born-1105303/) [Shall Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shall-poets-5657378/) [Spectacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spectacles/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Strange Witnessed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-witnessed-5657379/) [Terror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terror/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [There shall be poets! When woman's unmeasured bondage shall be broken, when she shall live for and through herself, man--hitherto detestable--having let her go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/there-shall-be-poets-when-woman-s-unmeasured-bondage-shall-be-broken/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [Rarest of the real poets are born poets. They are the oddballs, not the professors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-broughton/rarest-of-the-real-poets-are-born-poets-they-are-the-oddballs-not-the/) [James Broughton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-broughton/) > [Naturalists, like poets, are born and then made only by years of painstaking observation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/naturalists-like-poets-are-born-and-then-made-only-by-years-of/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [Poets are born, not paid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/addison-mizner/poets-are-born-not-paid/) [Addison Mizner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/addison-mizner/) > [“People like me spend years learning the techniques of meditation. But you're a poet, and poets are born knowing the language of angels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/people-like-me-spend-years-learning-the-techniques-of-meditation-but/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“Like every great writer before or since, Jonson understood that the best poets 'are both made and born'. That all great writing has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/like-every-great-writer-before-or-since-jonson-understood-that-the/) [James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/) > [As we all know, poets are born brain-wired a certain way and every poet I know wrote as a child. I'm no exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-cavalieri/as-we-all-know-poets-are-born-brain-wired-a-certain-way-and-every/) [Grace Cavalieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-cavalieri/) > [Poets are born, not made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/american-proverb/poets-are-born-not-made/) [American Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/american-proverb/) > [poets are born knowing the language of angels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/poets-are-born-knowing-the-language-of-angels/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Political parties are like poets, born, not made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/political-parties-are-like-poets-born-not-made/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [“Rare-book people have this in common with poets: they too are born, not made.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-millicent-sowerby/rare-book-people-have-this-in-common-with-poets-they-too-are-born-not/) [E. Millicent Sowerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-millicent-sowerby/) > [Let us read the Bible without the ill-fitting colored spectacles of theology, just as we read other books, using our judgment and reason. . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luther-burbank/let-us-read-the-bible-without-the-ill-fitting-colored-spectacles-of/) [Luther Burbank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luther-burbank/) > [ Spectacles are deaths Harquebuze. \[Spectacles are death's arquebuse.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/spectacles-are-deaths-harquebuze-spectacles-are-death-s-arquebuse/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [Emma was a shocking driver, simultaneously sloppy and petrified, and for the first fifty miles had been absent-mindedly driving with her spectacles on top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/emma-was-a-shocking-driver-simultaneously-sloppy-and-petrified-and/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [On the one hand, we had great filmic spectacles that brought in big audiences, adults as well as primary and secondary school students. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrzej-wajda/on-the-one-hand-we-had-great-filmic-spectacles-that-brought-in-big/) [Andrzej Wajda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrzej-wajda/) ## More by Denis Diderot > [But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/but-if-you-will-recall-the-history-of-our-civil-troubles-you-will-see/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [One declaims endlessly against the passions; one imputes all of man's suffering to them. One forgets that they are also the source of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/one-declaims-endlessly-against-the-passions-one-imputes-all-of-man-s/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Time, matter, space - all, it may be, are no more than a point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/time-matter-space-all-it-may-be-are-no-more-than-a-point/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/we-are-far-more-liable-to-catch-the-vices-than-the-virtues-of-our/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [One composition is meagre, though it has many figures; another is rich, though it has few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/one-composition-is-meagre-though-it-has-many-figures-another-is-rich/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [I have only a small flickering light to guide me in the darkness of a thick forest. Up comes a theologian and blows it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/i-have-only-a-small-flickering-light-to-guide-me-in-the-darkness-of-a/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [The world is the house of the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/the-world-is-the-house-of-the-strong/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [“One swallows the lie that flatters, but sips the bitter truth drop by drop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/one-swallows-the-lie-that-flatters-but-sips-the-bitter-truth-drop-by/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [There is less harm to be suffered in being mad among madmen than in being sane all by oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/there-is-less-harm-to-be-suffered-in-being-mad-among-madmen-than-in/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Integrity is the evidence of all civil virtues.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/integrity-is-the-evidence-of-all-civil-virtues/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/watch-out-for-the-fellow-who-talks-about-putting-things-in-order/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [“Nie wiem, co to zasady, chyba że tak nazywamy prawidła, które przypisuje się innym, a nie sobie. Myślę tak, a nie umiałbym się powstrzymać…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/nie-wiem-co-to-zasady-chyba-e-tak-nazywamy-prawid-a-kt-re-przypisuje/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [There is no good father who would want to resemble our Heavenly Father.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/there-is-no-good-father-who-would-want-to-resemble-our-heavenly-father/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [Isn't it better to have men being ungrateful than to miss a chance to do good?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/isn-t-it-better-to-have-men-being-ungrateful-than-to-miss-a-chance-to/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) > [A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-diderot/a-nation-which-thinks-that-it-is-belief-in-god-and-not-good-law-which/) [Denis Diderot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) [Explore all 210 Denis Diderot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-diderot/) ## More Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I'm not against gay people. I have a relative who is also gay. We can't help it if they were born that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/i-m-not-against-gay-people-i-have-a-relative-who-is-also-gay-we-can-t/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. 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