--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can't live on nothing.\" \"I can live…" description: "\"“You can't live on nothing.\" \"I can live on sunlight falling across little bridges. I can live on the Botticelli-blue cornflower pattern on the out-bil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/915/hilda-doolittle-7061_quote_you-can-t-live-on-nothing-i-can-live-on_1468137.jpg" --- # You can't live on nothing." "I can live on sunlight… ![“You can't live on nothing." "I can live on sunlight falling across little bridges. I can live on the Botticelli-blue cornflower pattern on the out-billowing garments of the attendant to Aphrodite and the pattern of strawberry blossoms and the little daisies in the robe of Primavera. I can live on…” quote by Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/915/hilda-doolittle-7061_quote_you-can-t-live-on-nothing-i-can-live-on_1468137.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/915/hilda-doolittle-7061_quote_you-can-t-live-on-nothing-i-can-live-on_1468137.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/915/hilda-doolittle-7061_quote_you-can-t-live-on-nothing-i-can-live-on_1468137.jpg) > ““You can't live on nothing." "I can live on sunlight falling across little bridges. I can live on the Botticelli-blue cornflower pattern on the out-billowing garments of the attendant to Aphrodite and the pattern of strawberry blossoms and the little daisies in the robe of Primavera. I can live on the doves flying (he says) in cohorts from the underside of the faded gilt of the balcony of Saint Mark's cathedral and the long corridors of the Pitti Palace. I can gorge myself on Rome and the naked Bacchus and the face like a blasted lightning-blasted white birch that is some sort of Fury.”” [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet enumerates vivid sensory and cultural images as sustenance, suggesting imagination and art feed the soul. **In simple terms:** Imagery and art nourish the spirit. Key Takeaway Seek inspiration in art and surroundings. Themes art imagination sensory experience Mood contemplative evocative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - museum visits - creative writing - travel journaling Key Concepts visual poetry mythology urban landscape Questions to Reflect On - Which images resonate most with you? - How can everyday life become poetic? A Different Perspective May be inaccessible to those preferring concrete advice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blossoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossoms/) ## Related quotes > [I decided to fly through the air and live in the sunlight and enjoy life as much as I could.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evel-knievel/i-decided-to-fly-through-the-air-and-live-in-the-sunlight-and-enjoy/) [Evel Knievel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evel-knievel/) > [What blossoms beautifully, withers fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/what-blossoms-beautifully-withers-fast/) Proverb > [“Joy blossoms in our hearts not as we try harder and harder to grow, but as we see more clearly the depth of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-duguid/joy-blossoms-in-our-hearts-not-as-we-try-harder-and-harder-to-grow/) Barbara Duguid > [i am with the roots of flowers entwined, entombed sending up my passionate blossoms as a flight of rockets and argument; wine churls my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-am-with-the-roots-of-flowers-entwined-entombed-sending-up-my/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [I feel my live shows are my music; everything blossoms from the live shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xavier-rudd/i-feel-my-live-shows-are-my-music-everything-blossoms-from-the-live/) [Xavier Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xavier-rudd/) > [“So he raced from dogwood to blossoming peach. When they thinned out he headed for the cherry blossoms, then magnolia, chinaberry, pecan, walnut and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/so-he-raced-from-dogwood-to-blossoming-peach-when-they-thinned-out-he/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“The spring flowers have been particularly beautiful this year. I think they become more so with every passing year. Their memory is a comforting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-r-smith/the-spring-flowers-have-been-particularly-beautiful-this-year-i-think/) [Rachel R. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-r-smith/) > [“Due to their short bloom time, Sakura blossoms are a metaphor for life itself: beautiful yet fleeting. You’ll realize when you’re as old as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-m-mullen/due-to-their-short-bloom-time-sakura-blossoms-are-a-metaphor-for-life/) [Shannon M Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-m-mullen/) > [“Today I will find something beautiful. Delicate pink blossoms on a cherry tree. The dove resting near the lemon buds. Sunbeams smiling from sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-granfors/today-i-will-find-something-beautiful-delicate-pink-blossoms-on-a/) [Eileen Granfors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-granfors/) > [“The elegant and beautiful Lotus flower must toil through the mud and mire of murky swamps and shadowy waters of darkness before it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/the-elegant-and-beautiful-lotus-flower-must-toil-through-the-mud-and/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [“Autumn had arrived— the last blossom whispered, let me stay awhile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meeta-ahluwalia/autumn-had-arrived-the-last-blossom-whispered-let-me-stay-awhile/) [Meeta Ahluwalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meeta-ahluwalia/) > [A comely sight indeed it is to see, a world of blossoms on an apple tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/a-comely-sight-indeed-it-is-to-see-a-world-of-blossoms-on-an-apple/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A too closely watched flower/blossoms the wrong color./Excess attention to the jonquil/turns it gentian. Flowers/need it tranquil to get/their hues right. Some/only open at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-ryan/a-too-closely-watched-flower-blossoms-the-wrong-color-excess/) [Kay Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-ryan/) > [“Let us not subside into a single mandatory way of thinking or feeling, immersed by a spirit of self-gratification. But let’s dig into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-not-subside-into-a-single-mandatory-way-of-thinking-or-feeling/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) ## More by Hilda Doolittle > [“Sheltered Garden" I have had enough. I gasp for breath. Every way ends, every road, every foot-path leads at last to the hill-crest-- then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/sheltered-garden-i-have-had-enough-i-gasp-for-breath-every-way-ends/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [That way of inspiration is always open, and open to everyone; it acts as go-between, interpreter, it explains symbols of the past in to-day's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/that-way-of-inspiration-is-always-open-and-open-to-everyone-it-acts/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Could beauty be beaten out, O youth the cities have sent to strike at each other's strength, it is you who have kept her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/could-beauty-be-beaten-out-o-youth-the-cities-have-sent-to-strike-at/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The Christos-image is most difficult to disentangle from its art-craft junk-shop paint-and-plaster medieval jumble of pain-worship and death-symbol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-christos-image-is-most-difficult-to-disentangle-from-its-art/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [When you would think, "what was the use of it," you'll remember something you can't grasp and you'll wonder what it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/when-you-would-think-what-was-the-use-of-it-you-ll-remember-something/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The quivering of Psyche's butterflies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-quivering-of-psyche-s-butterflies/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Thoth, Hermes, the stylus, the palette, the pen, the quill endure, though our books are a floor of smouldering ash under our feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/thoth-hermes-the-stylus-the-palette-the-pen-the-quill-endure-though/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [My eye-balls are glass, my limbs marble, my face fixed in its marble mask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/my-eye-balls-are-glass-my-limbs-marble-my-face-fixed-in-its-marble/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The things I have are nameless, old and true; they may not be named; few may live and know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-things-i-have-are-nameless-old-and-true-they-may-not-be-named-few/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Soft are the hands of Love, but what soft hands clutched at the thorny ground, scratched like a small white ferret or foraging whippet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/soft-are-the-hands-of-love-but-what-soft-hands-clutched-at-the-thorny/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [The elixir of life, the philosopher's stone is yours if you surrender sterile logic, trivial reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/the-elixir-of-life-the-philosopher-s-stone-is-yours-if-you-surrender/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered with the weight of massive bees . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Alas, day, you brought light, You trailed splendour You showed us god: I salute you, most precious one, But I go to a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/alas-day-you-brought-light-you-trailed-splendour-you-showed-us-god-i/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Let Love step down, open the clasped hands, forfeit the thorny crown, retrieve the garment that was whole, body and spirit one, spirit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/let-love-step-down-open-the-clasped-hands-forfeit-the-thorny-crown/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [(Those women whom the distaff no longer claims nor spun cloth) driven made, mad, mad by Bacchus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/those-women-whom-the-distaff-no-longer-claims-nor-spun-cloth-driven/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) [Explore all 95 Hilda Doolittle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) ## More Blossoms quotes > [“Let us not subside into a single mandatory way of thinking or feeling, immersed by a spirit of self-gratification. But let’s dig into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/let-us-not-subside-into-a-single-mandatory-way-of-thinking-or-feeling/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [A too closely watched flower/blossoms the wrong color./Excess attention to the jonquil/turns it gentian. Flowers/need it tranquil to get/their hues right. Some/only open at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-ryan/a-too-closely-watched-flower-blossoms-the-wrong-color-excess/) [Kay Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-ryan/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A comely sight indeed it is to see, a world of blossoms on an apple tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/a-comely-sight-indeed-it-is-to-see-a-world-of-blossoms-on-an-apple/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [“Autumn had arrived— the last blossom whispered, let me stay awhile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meeta-ahluwalia/autumn-had-arrived-the-last-blossom-whispered-let-me-stay-awhile/) [Meeta Ahluwalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meeta-ahluwalia/) > [“The elegant and beautiful Lotus flower must toil through the mud and mire of murky swamps and shadowy waters of darkness before it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/the-elegant-and-beautiful-lotus-flower-must-toil-through-the-mud-and/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [“Today I will find something beautiful. Delicate pink blossoms on a cherry tree. The dove resting near the lemon buds. Sunbeams smiling from sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-granfors/today-i-will-find-something-beautiful-delicate-pink-blossoms-on-a/) [Eileen Granfors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-granfors/) > [“Due to their short bloom time, Sakura blossoms are a metaphor for life itself: beautiful yet fleeting. You’ll realize when you’re as old as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-m-mullen/due-to-their-short-bloom-time-sakura-blossoms-are-a-metaphor-for-life/) [Shannon M Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-m-mullen/) > [“The spring flowers have been particularly beautiful this year. I think they become more so with every passing year. Their memory is a comforting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-r-smith/the-spring-flowers-have-been-particularly-beautiful-this-year-i-think/) [Rachel R. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-r-smith/) > [“So he raced from dogwood to blossoming peach. When they thinned out he headed for the cherry blossoms, then magnolia, chinaberry, pecan, walnut and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/so-he-raced-from-dogwood-to-blossoming-peach-when-they-thinned-out-he/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [I feel my live shows are my music; everything blossoms from the live shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xavier-rudd/i-feel-my-live-shows-are-my-music-everything-blossoms-from-the-live/) [Xavier Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xavier-rudd/) > [i am with the roots of flowers entwined, entombed sending up my passionate blossoms as a flight of rockets and argument; wine churls my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-am-with-the-roots-of-flowers-entwined-entombed-sending-up-my/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Joy blossoms in our hearts not as we try harder and harder to grow, but as we see more clearly the depth of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-duguid/joy-blossoms-in-our-hearts-not-as-we-try-harder-and-harder-to-grow/) Barbara Duguid > [What blossoms beautifully, withers fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/proverb/what-blossoms-beautifully-withers-fast/) Proverb > [“However wildly this year's cherry blossoms bloom, I'll see them with the plum's scent filling my heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ono-no-komachi/however-wildly-this-year-s-cherry-blossoms-bloom-i-ll-see-them-with/) Ono no Komachi [Browse all 171 Blossoms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blossoms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You can't live on nothing.\" \"I can live on sunlight falling across little bridges. 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