--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: However, poetry does not live solely in…" description: "\"However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school anthologies.\" — Eugenio Montale" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/eugenio-montale-14916_anthologies_however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-b_1182487.png" --- # However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school… ![“However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school anthologies.” quote by Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/eugenio-montale-14916_anthologies_however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-b_1182487.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/eugenio-montale-14916_anthologies_however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-b_1182487.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/eugenio-montale-14916_anthologies_however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-b_1182487.png) > “However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school anthologies.” [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry exists beyond textbooks and anthologies, in lived experience. **In simple terms:** Poetry lives in everyday life. Key Takeaway Seek poetry everywhere. Themes art education experience Mood contemplative inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - travel - conversation - nature observation - personal journaling - media consumption Key Concepts aesthetic philosophy creative expression Questions to Reflect On - Where do you encounter poetry daily? - How can we foster poetic awareness? A Different Perspective Formal study may miss spontaneous poetic moments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthologies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthologies/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [I believe in anthologies, although I know they offer only a glimpse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonora-speyer/i-believe-in-anthologies-although-i-know-they-offer-only-a-glimpse/) Leonora Speyer > [I tended to be drawn to the weirder, darker stuff. Horror and sci-fi anthologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/i-tended-to-be-drawn-to-the-weirder-darker-stuff-horror-and-sci-fi/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [There have been a lot of horror anthologies as of late; movies like V/H/S and The ABCs of Death have brought the anthology back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mendez/there-have-been-a-lot-of-horror-anthologies-as-of-late-movies-like-v/) [Mike Mendez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mendez/) > [making final judgements about poets, cities or regions on the basis of an anthology is always dangerous: anthologies are mirages created, finally, by their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/making-final-judgements-about-poets-cities-or-regions-on-the-basis-of/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Anthologies are mischievous things. Some years ago there was a rage for chemically predigested food, which was only suppressed when doctors pointed out that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/anthologies-are-mischievous-things-some-years-ago-there-was-a-rage/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Since I'm a fan of collections and anthologies, believe that the best writing often shines in shards and galloping stretches, I never find myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/since-i-m-a-fan-of-collections-and-anthologies-believe-that-the-best/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [The first writers are first and the rest, in the long run, nowhere but in anthologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-clinton-van-doren/the-first-writers-are-first-and-the-rest-in-the-long-run-nowhere-but/) [Carl Clinton Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-clinton-van-doren/) > [I'll tell you what I miss most. What I would love to do, more than anything, is just anthologies. With an anthology you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-spelling/i-ll-tell-you-what-i-miss-most-what-i-would-love-to-do-more-than/) [Aaron Spelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-spelling/) > [Cross-pollination and "contamination" is really important to the health of fiction, and sometimes it's a literal conversation, too, in that writers who might never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/cross-pollination-and-contamination-is-really-important-to-the-health/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [The essay community should have hundreds of anthologies from hundreds of different perspectives that are constantly introducing us to new writers, new work, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/the-essay-community-should-have-hundreds-of-anthologies-from-hundreds/) [John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/) > [“Books and school are great for learning but there is no substitute for life and living to provide a real education.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-poirot/books-and-school-are-great-for-learning-but-there-is-no-substitute/) [Ken poirot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-poirot/) > [Growing up, I would take out books from the school library and hide them in the hamper. I'd wait until my parents fell asleep,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-joy/growing-up-i-would-take-out-books-from-the-school-library-and-hide/) [Lisa Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-joy/) > [“By educating me at home, my parents were able to give me individualized attention without the usual distractions that kids in regular school experience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-nissan/by-educating-me-at-home-my-parents-were-able-to-give-me/) [Colin Nissan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-nissan/) > [I discovered Deborah Ellis's books in the school library after my head teacher encouraged me to go beyond the school curriculum and look for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-discovered-deborah-ellis-s-books-in-the-school-library-after-my/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) ## More by Eugenio Montale > [In reality art is always for everyone and for no one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/in-reality-art-is-always-for-everyone-and-for-no-one/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [“No writer in our time has been more isolated than Kafka, and yet few have achieved communication as well as he did.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/no-writer-in-our-time-has-been-more-isolated-than-kafka-and-yet-few/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [I have been judged to be a pessimist but what abyss of ignorance and low egoism is not hidden in one who thinks that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/i-have-been-judged-to-be-a-pessimist-but-what-abyss-of-ignorance-and/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes - every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/forests-lakes-and-rivers-clouds-and-winds-stars-and-flowers/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Happiness, for you we walk on a knife edge. To the eyes you are a flickering light, to the feet, thin ice that cracks;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/happiness-for-you-we-walk-on-a-knife-edge-to-the-eyes-you-are-a/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Strangely, Dante's Divine Comedy did not produce a prose of that creative height or it did so after centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/strangely-dante-s-divine-comedy-did-not-produce-a-prose-of-that/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [I have always knocked at the door of that wonderful and terrible enigma which is life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/i-have-always-knocked-at-the-door-of-that-wonderful-and-terrible/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Holidays - Have no pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/holidays-have-no-pity/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [There is also poetry written to be shouted in a square in front of an enthusiastic crowd. This occurs especially in countries where authoritarian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/there-is-also-poetry-written-to-be-shouted-in-a-square-in-front-of-an/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Many of today's verses are prose and bad prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/many-of-today-s-verses-are-prose-and-bad-prose/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Against the dark background of this contemporary civilization of well-being, even the arts tend to mingle, to lose their identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/against-the-dark-background-of-this-contemporary-civilization-of-well/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Man cannot produce a single work without the assistance of the slow, assiduous, corrosive worm of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/man-cannot-produce-a-single-work-without-the-assistance-of-the-slow/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [There is poetry even in prose, in all the great prose which is not merely utilitarian or didactic: there exist poets who write in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/there-is-poetry-even-in-prose-in-all-the-great-prose-which-is-not/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [The real history, the one that counts and is not to be found in books, is precisely this one, the one made by simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/the-real-history-the-one-that-counts-and-is-not-to-be-found-in-books/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) > [Slowly poetry becomes visual because it paints images, but it is also musical: it unites two arts into one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/slowly-poetry-becomes-visual-because-it-paints-images-but-it-is-also/) [Eugenio Montale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) [Explore all 36 Eugenio Montale quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/) ## More Anthologies quotes > [I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and Im enjoying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-guest/i-am-also-working-on-a-couple-of-short-stories-for-anthologies-this/) [Judith Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-guest/) > [Cross-pollination and "contamination" is really important to the health of fiction, and sometimes it's a literal conversation, too, in that writers who might never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/cross-pollination-and-contamination-is-really-important-to-the-health/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [Oh, I love to read more than anything. I always love the 'New Stories From the South' anthologies - I think it's the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-alibar/oh-i-love-to-read-more-than-anything-i-always-love-the-new-stories/) [Lucy Alibar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-alibar/) > [I'll tell you what I miss most. What I would love to do, more than anything, is just anthologies. With an anthology you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-spelling/i-ll-tell-you-what-i-miss-most-what-i-would-love-to-do-more-than/) [Aaron Spelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-spelling/) > [I am an anthologist, you see. I sort of make anthologies for people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-rees/i-am-an-anthologist-you-see-i-sort-of-make-anthologies-for-people/) [Roger Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-rees/) > [The first writers are first and the rest, in the long run, nowhere but in anthologies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-clinton-van-doren/the-first-writers-are-first-and-the-rest-in-the-long-run-nowhere-but/) [Carl Clinton Van Doren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-clinton-van-doren/) > [“The runway splayed out at her feet and at its height were the limits of the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theresa-buchta/the-runway-splayed-out-at-her-feet-and-at-its-height-were-the-limits/) Theresa Buchta > [Since I'm a fan of collections and anthologies, believe that the best writing often shines in shards and galloping stretches, I never find myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolcott/since-i-m-a-fan-of-collections-and-anthologies-believe-that-the-best/) [James Wolcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolcott/) > [Anthologies are mischievous things. Some years ago there was a rage for chemically predigested food, which was only suppressed when doctors pointed out that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/anthologies-are-mischievous-things-some-years-ago-there-was-a-rage/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [making final judgements about poets, cities or regions on the basis of an anthology is always dangerous: anthologies are mirages created, finally, by their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/making-final-judgements-about-poets-cities-or-regions-on-the-basis-of/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [There have been a lot of horror anthologies as of late; movies like V/H/S and The ABCs of Death have brought the anthology back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-mendez/there-have-been-a-lot-of-horror-anthologies-as-of-late-movies-like-v/) [Mike Mendez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mendez/) > [Beginning in middle school, the era of wide-margined, Bible-paged anthologies, short stories develop unpromising associations - and these associations often linger through college, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-dolnick/beginning-in-middle-school-the-era-of-wide-margined-bible-paged/) [Ben Dolnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-dolnick/) > [“She would keep playing the role of the winner as long as the audience believed her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-papas/she-would-keep-playing-the-role-of-the-winner-as-long-as-the-audience/) [Mary Papas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-papas/) > [“And found there one of those huge comprehensive anthologies of literature, the sort of thing which, on a bad day, can induce an inferiority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-levine/and-found-there-one-of-those-huge-comprehensive-anthologies-of/) [Sara Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-levine/) > [I collect musical theatre anthologies. I have a whole library of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tituss-burgess/i-collect-musical-theatre-anthologies-i-have-a-whole-library-of-them/) [Tituss Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tituss-burgess/) [Browse all 21 Anthologies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthologies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school anthologies.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eugenio Montale" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-books-or-in-school-anthologies/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anthologies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-books-or-in-school-anthologies/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/eugenio-montale-14916_anthologies_however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-b_1182487.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/eugenio-montale-14916_anthologies_however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-b_1182487.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d71/eugenio-montale-14916_anthologies_however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-b_1182487.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“However, poetry does not live solely in books or in school anthologies.” — Eugenio Montale", "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": "Eugenio Montale", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugenio-montale/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "However, poetry does not live solely...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-books-or-in-school-anthologies/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugenio-montale/however-poetry-does-not-live-solely-in-books-or-in-school-anthologies/#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 } } ] } ```