--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing is more symptomatic of the…" description: "\"Nothing is more symptomatic of the enervation, of the decompression of the Western imagination, than our incapacity to respond to the landings on the M..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/george-steiner-4683_apollo_nothing-is-more-symptomatic-of-the-enerv_2474687.png" --- # Nothing is more symptomatic of the enervation, of the… ![“Nothing is more symptomatic of the enervation, of the decompression of the Western imagination, than our incapacity to respond to the landings on the Moon. Not a single great poem, picture, metaphor has come of this breathtaking act, of Prometheus' rescue of Icarus or of Phaeton in flight towards…” quote by George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/george-steiner-4683_apollo_nothing-is-more-symptomatic-of-the-enerv_2474687.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/george-steiner-4683_apollo_nothing-is-more-symptomatic-of-the-enerv_2474687.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c5/george-steiner-4683_apollo_nothing-is-more-symptomatic-of-the-enerv_2474687.png) > “Nothing is more symptomatic of the enervation, of the decompression of the Western imagination, than our incapacity to respond to the landings on the Moon. Not a single great poem, picture, metaphor has come of this breathtaking act, of Prometheus' rescue of Icarus or of Phaeton in flight towards the stars.” [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques Western culture’s inability to translate monumental achievements like moon landings into meaningful art, suggesting a spiritual of imagination. **In simple terms:** Western art fails to capture the awe of space exploration. Key Takeaway Seek new artistic vocabularies for modern marvels. Themes culture imagination art technology Mood critical reflective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - literary criticism - educational curricula - public discourse Key Concepts modernism aesthetic crisis media theory Questions to Reflect On - How can artists better reflect scientific breakthroughs? - What role should culture play in interpreting technology? A Different Perspective It may overlook existing works that do address space themes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apollo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apollo/) [Breathtaking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathtaking/) [Exploration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exploration/) [Icarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/icarus/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem/) [Prometheus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prometheus/) [Space exploration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-exploration/) [Star gazing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/star-gazing/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) ## Related quotes > [In the legends that males have invented to explain life, the first human creature is a man named Adam. Eve arrives later, to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/in-the-legends-that-males-have-invented-to-explain-life-the-first/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [In space-flight terms, six landings on the moon back in the Sixties and Seventies doesn't mean much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-lovell/in-space-flight-terms-six-landings-on-the-moon-back-in-the-sixties/) [Jim Lovell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-lovell/) > [As we begin to have landings on the moon, we can alternate those with vertical launch of similar crew modules on similar launch vehicles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/as-we-begin-to-have-landings-on-the-moon-we-can-alternate-those-with/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [The mind is the great poem of winter, the man, Who, to find what will suffice, Destroys romantic tenements Of rose and ice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-mind-is-the-great-poem-of-winter-the-man-who-to-find-what-will/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [What a great poem teaches you - and it's not intellectual at all - is the resonance in the language that's heard there. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-s-merwin/what-a-great-poem-teaches-you-and-it-s-not-intellectual-at-all-is-the/) [W. S. Merwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-s-merwin/) > [“All beauty comes from beautiful blood and a beautiful brain. If the greatnesses are in conjunction in a man or woman it is enough...the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/all-beauty-comes-from-beautiful-blood-and-a-beautiful-brain-if-the/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“The last great poem has already been written and will continue to write itself until you accept that you are the author and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-mckeand/the-last-great-poem-has-already-been-written-and-will-continue-to/) [Sophie McKeand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-mckeand/) > [“Language, a great poem in and of itself, is all around us. We live in the lap of enormous wonder, but how rarely do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-edmundson/language-a-great-poem-in-and-of-itself-is-all-around-us-we-live-in/) [Mark Edmundson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-edmundson/) > [What would we not give for some great poem to read now, which would be in harmony with the scenery,--for if men read aright,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-would-we-not-give-for-some-great-poem-to-read-now-which-would-be/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The great poem must have the stamp of greatness as well as its essence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-great-poem-must-have-the-stamp-of-greatness-as-well-as-its-essence/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“A great poem is for ages and ages in common and for all degrees and complexions and all departments and sects and for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/a-great-poem-is-for-ages-and-ages-in-common-and-for-all-degrees-and/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-in-school-or-church-or-in-any-book-2/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [The one great poem of New England is her Sunday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/the-one-great-poem-of-new-england-is-her-sunday/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-at-school-or-church-or-in-any-book/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [The great poem and the deep theorem are new to every reader, and yet are his own experiences, because he himself recreates them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/the-great-poem-and-the-deep-theorem-are-new-to-every-reader-and-yet/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) ## More by George Steiner > [“But there is a third mode of trancendence: in it language simply ceases, and the motion of spirit gives no further outward manifestation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/but-there-is-a-third-mode-of-trancendence-in-it-language-simply/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Words that are saturated with lies or atrocity, do not easily resume life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/words-that-are-saturated-with-lies-or-atrocity-do-not-easily-resume/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Every one of my opponents, every one of my critics, will tell you that I am a generalist spread far too thin in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-one-of-my-opponents-every-one-of-my-critics-will-tell-you-that/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The very opposite of freedom is cliche, and nothing is less free, more inert with convention and hollow brutality, than a row of four-letter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-very-opposite-of-freedom-is-cliche-and-nothing-is-less-free-more/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely. The notion that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [To starve a child of the spell of the story, of the canter of the poem, oral or written, is a kind of living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-starve-a-child-of-the-spell-of-the-story-of-the-canter-of-the-poem/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [I have every reason to believe that an individual man or woman fluent in several tongues seduces, possesses, remembers differently according to his or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-have-every-reason-to-believe-that-an-individual-man-or-woman-fluent/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [I believe that a work of art, like metaphors in language, can ask the most serious, difficult questions in a way which really makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/i-believe-that-a-work-of-art-like-metaphors-in-language-can-ask-the/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [To a degree which is difficult to determine, the esoteric impulse in twentieth-century music, literature and the arts reflects calculation. It looks to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/to-a-degree-which-is-difficult-to-determine-the-esoteric-impulse-in/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Books are in no hurry. An act of creation is in no hurry; it reads us, it privileges us infinitely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/books-are-in-no-hurry-an-act-of-creation-is-in-no-hurry-it-reads-us-2/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [“The inception of human consciousness, the genesis of awareness, must have entailed prolonged 'condensations' around intractable nodes of wonder and terror, at the discriminations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-inception-of-human-consciousness-the-genesis-of-awareness-must/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The immense majority of human biographies are a gray transit between domestic spasm and oblivion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-immense-majority-of-human-biographies-are-a-gray-transit-between/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [The new sound-sphere is global. It ripples at great speed across languages, ideologies, frontiers and races. The economics of this musical Esperanto is staggering.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/the-new-sound-sphere-is-global-it-ripples-at-great-speed-across/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [My father loved poetry and music. But deep in himself he thought teaching the finest thing a person could do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/my-father-loved-poetry-and-music-but-deep-in-himself-he-thought/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) > [Every language is a world. Without translation, we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-steiner/every-language-is-a-world-without-translation-we-would-inhabit/) [George Steiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) [Explore all 104 George Steiner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-steiner/) ## More Apollo quotes > [“I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/i-have-found-it-an-amusing-strategy-when-asked-whether-i-am-an/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Kennedy had made a mess in Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. He had to do something to look good. The Apollo program of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-schirra/kennedy-had-made-a-mess-in-cuba-at-the-bay-of-pigs-he-had-to-do/) [Wally Schirra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-schirra/) > [Apollo?” I guessed… He put a finger to his lips. “I’m incognito. Call me Fred.” A god named Fred?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/apollo-i-guessed-he-put-a-finger-to-his-lips-i-m-incognito-call-me/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [As a former Apollo astronaut, I think it's safe to say that SpaceX and the other commercial developers embody the 21st century version of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rusty-schweickart/as-a-former-apollo-astronaut-i-think-it-s-safe-to-say-that-spacex-and/) [Rusty Schweickart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rusty-schweickart/) > [I think if you were between maybe 6 and 16, there was nothing like Apollo, and I wonder if there can be something like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-stern/i-think-if-you-were-between-maybe-6-and-16-there-was-nothing-like/) [Alan Stern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-stern/) > [Apollo was a big, unwieldy vehicle. I had a problem with the flight controllers over that. It would try to fare its way like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-schirra/apollo-was-a-big-unwieldy-vehicle-i-had-a-problem-with-the-flight/) [Wally Schirra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-schirra/) > [I used to be a street performer, and performances on Venice Beach, it's like playing the Apollo: They let you know if they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cary-hiroyuki-tagawa/i-used-to-be-a-street-performer-and-performances-on-venice-beach-it-s/) [Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cary-hiroyuki-tagawa/) > [I owe much of my success to Seann Walsh. He kept recommending me for Live At The Apollo until eventually the producers offered me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romesh-ranganathan/i-owe-much-of-my-success-to-seann-walsh-he-kept-recommending-me-for/) [Romesh Ranganathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romesh-ranganathan/) > [A typical smart phone has more computing power than Apollo 11 when it landed a man on the moon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/a-typical-smart-phone-has-more-computing-power-than-apollo-11-when-it/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [Armstrong, sitting in the commander's seat, spacesuit on, helmet on, plugged into electrical and environmental umbilical's, is a man who is not only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/armstrong-sitting-in-the-commander-s-seat-spacesuit-on-helmet-on/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Have any of you taken a look out at Greece in the last, say, hour or so? (Hermes) What? Are they reacting to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/have-any-of-you-taken-a-look-out-at-greece-in-the-last-say-hour-or-so/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“I couldn’t say I was surprised that Apollo hadn’t given me a lot to work on. The jerk was known for delivering little to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/i-couldn-t-say-i-was-surprised-that-apollo-hadn-t-given-me-a-lot-to/) [Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/) > [“As additional precautions, Kranz requested that a two-hundred-foot radio antenna (called a deep-space dish) in Australia be added to the global network tracking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-s-f-cooper-jr/as-additional-precautions-kranz-requested-that-a-two-hundred-foot/) Henry S.F. Cooper Jr > [“He saw her eyes bright as stars; he saw her lips, and was not satisfied with only seeing them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-saw-her-eyes-bright-as-stars-he-saw-her-lips-and-was-not-satisfied/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Among the gods, there is a dispute as to which one of them originally thought of Christianity; or, as they call it, the Great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-holt/among-the-gods-there-is-a-dispute-as-to-which-one-of-them-originally/) [Tom Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-holt/) [Browse all 382 Apollo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apollo/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing is more symptomatic of the enervation, of the decompression of the Western imagination, than our incapacity to respond to the landings on the Moon. 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