--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I may say that I think greed about poetry…" description: "\"I may say that I think greed about poetry is the only permissible greed - it is, indeed, unavoidable.\" — Edith Sitwell" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/441/edith-sitwell-8023_greed_i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetr_2382149.png" --- # I may say that I think greed about poetry is the only… ![“I may say that I think greed about poetry is the only permissible greed - it is, indeed, unavoidable.” quote by Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/441/edith-sitwell-8023_greed_i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetr_2382149.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/441/edith-sitwell-8023_greed_i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetr_2382149.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/441/edith-sitwell-8023_greed_i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetr_2382149.png) > “I may say that I think greed about poetry is the only permissible greed - it is, indeed, unavoidable.” [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry's desire for inspiration is an unavoidable, even necessary, form of greed. **In simple terms:** Poetry's greedy inspiration. Key Takeaway Accept poetry's insatiable drive. Themes creativity greed art Mood contemplative inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing workshops - creative retreats - literary analysis Key Concepts literature philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does this "greed" fuel artistic growth? - Can we balance desire and restraint? A Different Perspective Greed may be seen negatively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Greed may not be good, but it’s not so bad either. 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People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-verrillo/wars-have-always-been-with-us-as-have-droughts-no-in-the-end-i-think/) [Erica Verrillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-verrillo/) > [All great poetry is dipped in the dyes of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/all-great-poetry-is-dipped-in-the-dyes-of-the-heart/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [Many people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of life. 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What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-that-at-a-certain-age-say-fifteen-or-sixteen-poetry-is-like/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## More by Edith Sitwell > [The reason why Matthew Arnold, to my feeling, fails entirely as a poet (though no doubt his ideas were good - at least, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-reason-why-matthew-arnold-to-my-feeling-fails-entirely-as-a-poet/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The great sins and fires break out of me like the terrible leaves from the bough in the violent spring. I am a walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-great-sins-and-fires-break-out-of-me-like-the-terrible-leaves/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/eccentricity-is-not-as-dull-people-would-have-us-believe-a-form-of/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [I am not eccentric. It's just that I am more alive than most people. I am an unpopular electric eel set in a pond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-am-not-eccentric-it-s-just-that-i-am-more-alive-than-most-people-i/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-am-patient-with-stupidity-but-not-with-those-who-are-proud-of-it/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“Said the lion to the lioness - "when you are amber dust - No more a raging fire like the heat of the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/said-the-lion-to-the-lioness-when-you-are-amber-dust-no-more-a-raging/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [“The fusty showman fumbles, must Fit in a particle of dust The universe, for fear it gain Its freedom from my cube of brain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-fusty-showman-fumbles-must-fit-in-a-particle-of-dust-the-universe/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The trouble with most Englishwomen is that they will dress as if they had been a mouse in a previous incarnation they do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-trouble-with-most-englishwomen-is-that-they-will-dress-as-if-they/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The poet is the complete lover of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-poet-is-the-complete-lover-of-mankind/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [What is the special privilege of youth? 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I was in it as a baby, and I have never seemed to get out of it ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/hot-water-is-my-native-element-i-was-in-it-as-a-baby-and-i-have-never/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [The aim of flattery is to soothe and encourage us by assuring us of the truth of an opinion we have already formed about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/the-aim-of-flattery-is-to-soothe-and-encourage-us-by-assuring-us-of/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) > [A great many people now reading and writing would be better employed keeping rabbits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/a-great-many-people-now-reading-and-writing-would-be-better-employed/) [Edith Sitwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) [Explore all 85 Edith Sitwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/) ## More Greed quotes > [Stephanie could see the greed seep into the watery eyes of her father’s other brother, a horrible little man called Fergus, as he nodded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/stephanie-could-see-the-greed-seep-into-the-watery-eyes-of-her-father/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [ “Where there are kashays (anger-pride-deceit-greed), there is worldly life. 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They are ignorance and its minions, including greed, hatred, anger, pride, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-newland/wisdom-teaches-us-that-our-real-enemies-are-never-other-living-beings/) Guy Newland > [“Suckers think that you cure greed with money, addiction with substances, expert problems with experts, banking with bankers, economics with economists, and debt crises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/suckers-think-that-you-cure-greed-with-money-addiction-with/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [The universe appears to me like an immense, inexorable torture-garden…Passions, greed, hatred, and lies; social institutions, justice, love, glory, heroism, and religion: these are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octave-mirbeau/the-universe-appears-to-me-like-an-immense-inexorable-torture-garden/) [Octave Mirbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octave-mirbeau/) > [“Thankfulness acknowledges that we can’t own anything, but we can experience everything. And just knowing that makes me thankful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/thankfulness-acknowledges-that-we-can-t-own-anything-but-we-can/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Con men look for human frailty to exploit. This is most often greed. Trump found a different vice: anger. The emotional are always the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-meyer/con-men-look-for-human-frailty-to-exploit-this-is-most-often-greed/) [Pamela Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-meyer/) [Browse all 2,232 Greed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I may say that I think greed about poetry is the only permissible greed - it is, indeed, unavoidable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edith Sitwell" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetry-is-the-only-permissible/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Greed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetry-is-the-only-permissible/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/441/edith-sitwell-8023_greed_i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetr_2382149.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/441/edith-sitwell-8023_greed_i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetr_2382149.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/441/edith-sitwell-8023_greed_i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetr_2382149.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I may say that I think greed about poetry is the only permissible greed - it is, indeed, unavoidable.” — Edith Sitwell", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edith Sitwell", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-sitwell/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I may say that I think...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetry-is-the-only-permissible/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-sitwell/i-may-say-that-i-think-greed-about-poetry-is-the-only-permissible/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```