--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And yet, in a culture like ours, which is…" description: "\"And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/mark-strand-9847_comfort_and-yet-in-a-culture-like-ours-which-is_1493782.jpg" --- # And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to… ![“And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written.” quote by Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/mark-strand-9847_comfort_and-yet-in-a-culture-like-ours-which-is_1493782.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/mark-strand-9847_comfort_and-yet-in-a-culture-like-ours-which-is_1493782.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/mark-strand-9847_comfort_and-yet-in-a-culture-like-ours-which-is_1493782.jpg) > “And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written.” [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even in a comfort‑driven culture, poetry thrives despite instant‑gratification trends. **In simple terms:** Poetry persists amid materialism. Key Takeaway Value deep artistic expression over fleeting pleasures. Themes artistic resilience culture materialism Mood thoughtful hopeful analytical Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing classes - literary festivals - media analysis Key Concepts aesthetic theory cultural criticism Questions to Reflect On - Why does poetry still resonate? - How can art compete with instant entertainment? A Different Perspective Commercial media may dominate attention. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comfort/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Entertainment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entertainment/) [Gratification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratification/) [Immediate gratification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immediate-gratification/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Being on stage is, like, my favorite. The immediate gratification. That's my favorite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-haddish/being-on-stage-is-like-my-favorite-the-immediate-gratification-that-s/) [Tiffany Haddish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-haddish/) > [In other words, any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term grown, health, or integrity. Or, expressed another way, any act that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/in-other-words-any-act-that-rejects-immediate-gratification-in-favor/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Immediate gratification of a live audience makes me come alive. I miss performing in theater. I'll make my return to the stage eventually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-dooling/immediate-gratification-of-a-live-audience-makes-me-come-alive-i-miss/) [Brendan Dooling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-dooling/) > [Many are attracted to social service - the rewards are immediate, the gratification quick. But if we have social justice, we won't need social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-bond/many-are-attracted-to-social-service-the-rewards-are-immediate-the/) [Julian Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-bond/) > [True happiness comes from gaining insight and growing into your best possible self. Otherwise all you're having is immediate gratification pleasure, which is fleeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/true-happiness-comes-from-gaining-insight-and-growing-into-your-best/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“We’re a “rational” species—at least that’s what we tell ourselves. So why are we so irrationally enslaved by so many bad habits? It’s because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-hardy/we-re-a-rational-species-at-least-that-s-what-we-tell-ourselves-so/) [Darren Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-hardy/) > [Academia does not provide many opportunities for immediate gratification. You work for two years on a project, it takes two more years to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-thaler/academia-does-not-provide-many-opportunities-for-immediate/) [Richard Thaler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-thaler/) > [I'm a sucker for good black skirts and pretty little shirts and kooky tops. I have to admit that shopping satisfies my craving for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-a-sucker-for-good-black-skirts-and-pretty-little-shirts-and-kooky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think that can also be the downfall at the same time in what's really difficult about being kind of in the public eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/i-think-that-can-also-be-the-downfall-at-the-same-time-in-what-s/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [Side by side with the miseries of underdevelopment...we find ourselves up against a form of superdevelopment, equally inadmissable. This superdevelopment consists in an excessive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/side-by-side-with-the-miseries-of-underdevelopment-we-find-ourselves/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [It may be observed in general that the future is purchased by the present. It is not possible to secure distant or permanent happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/it-may-be-observed-in-general-that-the-future-is-purchased-by-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Prefer enduring satisfaction to immediate gratification.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/prefer-enduring-satisfaction-to-immediate-gratification/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Patience is a godly attribute that can heal souls, unlock treasures of knowledge and understanding, and transform ordinary men and women into saints and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/patience-is-a-godly-attribute-that-can-heal-souls-unlock-treasures-of/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [“Immediate gratification is a dream killer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/immediate-gratification-is-a-dream-killer/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [Vegas is the most extreme and allegorical of American settlements, bizarre and beautiful in its venality and in its devotion to immediate gratification.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/vegas-is-the-most-extreme-and-allegorical-of-american-settlements/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## More by Mark Strand > [We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/we-re-only-here-for-a-short-while-and-i-think-it-s-such-a-lucky/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [If every head of state and every government official spent an hour a day reading poetry we'd live in a much more humane and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/if-every-head-of-state-and-every-government-official-spent-an-hour-a/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [To open the dictionary of the Beyond and discover what one suspected, that the only word in it is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/to-open-the-dictionary-of-the-beyond-and-discover-what-one-suspected/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-think-the-best-american-poetry-is-the-poetry-that-utilizes-the/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [“The ultimate self-effacement is not the pretense of the minimal, but the jocular considerations of the maximal in the manner of Wallace Stevens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/the-ultimate-self-effacement-is-not-the-pretense-of-the-minimal-but/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [I have been eating poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-have-been-eating-poetry/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [“Keeping Things Whole" In a field I am the absence of field. This is always the case. Wherever I am I am what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/keeping-things-whole-in-a-field-i-am-the-absence-of-field-this-is/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [There's a certain point, when you're writing autobiographical stuff, where you don't want to misrepresent yourself. It would be dishonest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/there-s-a-certain-point-when-you-re-writing-autobiographical-stuff/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Poetry is about slowing down. You sit and you read something, you read it again, and it reveals a little bit more, and things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/poetry-is-about-slowing-down-you-sit-and-you-read-something-you-read/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [These wrinkles are nothing These gray hairs are nothing, This stomach which sags with old food, these bruised and swollen ankles, my darkening brain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/these-wrinkles-are-nothing-these-gray-hairs-are-nothing-this-stomach/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/pain-is-filtered-in-a-poem-so-that-it-becomes-finally-in-the-end/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [In a field I am the absence of field.That is always the case. Wherever I am, I am what is missing. When I walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/in-a-field-i-am-the-absence-of-field-that-is-always-the-case-wherever/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Even this late it happens the coming of love, the coming of light. You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/even-this-late-it-happens-the-coming-of-love-the-coming-of-light-you/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Those hours given over to basking in the glow of an imagined future, of being carried away in streams of promise by a love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/those-hours-given-over-to-basking-in-the-glow-of-an-imagined-future/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [I feel that anything is possible in a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-feel-that-anything-is-possible-in-a-poem/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) [Explore all 70 Mark Strand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) ## More Comfort quotes > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [For many, the call to be a Christian can seem demanding, even overwhelming. But we need not be afraid or feel inadequate. The Savior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-hales/for-many-the-call-to-be-a-christian-can-seem-demanding-even/) [Robert D. Hales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-hales/) > [This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/this-is-no-time-for-ease-and-comfort-it-is-time-to-dare-and-endure/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [There is a comfort in rituals, and rituals provide a framework for stability when you are trying to find answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-norville/there-is-a-comfort-in-rituals-and-rituals-provide-a-framework-for/) [Deborah Norville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-norville/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“When you get lost in a really strange place, nothing is more comforting than found your friend whom you trust and can show the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-get-lost-in-a-really-strange-place-nothing-is-more/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [Comfort food is really anything you want at that time. That said, I really love Naple-style pizza.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-zakarian/comfort-food-is-really-anything-you-want-at-that-time-that-said-i/) [Geoffrey Zakarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-zakarian/) > [I actually like getting out of my comfort zone. It shakes me up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/i-actually-like-getting-out-of-my-comfort-zone-it-shakes-me-up/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wimber/worship-is-not-about-personality-temperament-personal-limitations/) [John Wimber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wimber/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Maybe that was why she couldn't cry, she realized, staring dry-eyed at the ceiling. 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