--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People who didn't live pre-Internet can't…" description: "\"People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. I stopped in the middle of the SAT to memorize a poem, bec..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f24/mary-karr-3335_art_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_976493.png" --- # People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid… ![“People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. I stopped in the middle of the SAT to memorize a poem, because I thought, This is a great work of art and I'll never see it again.” quote by Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f24/mary-karr-3335_art_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_976493.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f24/mary-karr-3335_art_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_976493.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f24/mary-karr-3335_art_people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can_976493.png) > “People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. I stopped in the middle of the SAT to memorize a poem, because I thought, This is a great work of art and I'll never see it again.” [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pre‑Internet life felt empty of ideas, prompting spontaneous creative acts like memorizing poetry. **In simple terms:** Lack of digital content spurred personal creativity Key Takeaway Seek creative outlets. Themes nostalgia creativity technology Mood reflective nostalgic Type memoir philosophical When to use this quote - education - writing - personal growth Key Concepts cultural studies psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does scarcity shape imagination? - What modern habits replace spontaneous creativity? A Different Perspective Digital overload can also inspire creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Devoid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoid/) [Devoid Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoid-ideas-1909083/) [Great work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-work/) [Hometown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hometown/) [Hometown Stopped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hometown-stopped-1909082/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Memorize Poem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memorize-poem-1909085/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poem Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem-thought-1909084/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Sat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sat/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. The only bookstores sold Bibles the size of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/people-who-didn-t-live-pre-internet-can-t-grasp-how-devoid-of-ideas-2/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“My memories are not books. They are only stories that I have been over so many times in my head that I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-mccracken/my-memories-are-not-books-they-are-only-stories-that-i-have-been-over-2/) [Elizabeth McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-mccracken/) > [I'm a hippie child of the '60s. What drives me crazy about mass media entertainment is that it's so often devoid of any ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lapine/i-m-a-hippie-child-of-the-60s-what-drives-me-crazy-about-mass-media/) [James Lapine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lapine/) > [To read a poem with no thought in mind but to paraphrase it into a single, simple and usually high-minded prose statement is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/to-read-a-poem-with-no-thought-in-mind-but-to-paraphrase-it-into-a/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [“It is not metres, but a metre-making argument that makes a poem,—a thought so passionate and alive that like the spirit of a plant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-not-metres-but-a-metre-making-argument-that-makes-a-poem-a/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A poem is but a thought, a mere memory caught at play. From hand onto paper, bleeding thoughts emerge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hensel/a-poem-is-but-a-thought-a-mere-memory-caught-at-play-from-hand-onto/) [Robert M. Hensel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hensel/) > [“Silence is a great companion when words are devoid of meanings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nema-al-araby/silence-is-a-great-companion-when-words-are-devoid-of-meanings/) [Nema Al-Araby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nema-al-araby/) > [The very idea of supernatural magic - including miracles - is incoherent, devoid of sensible meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-very-idea-of-supernatural-magic-including-miracles-is-incoherent/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Most of us live our lives devoid of cinematic moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/most-of-us-live-our-lives-devoid-of-cinematic-moments/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [My pictures are devoid of objects; like objects, they are themselves objects. This means that they are devoid of content, significance or meaning, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/my-pictures-are-devoid-of-objects-like-objects-they-are-themselves/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [“His is a poetry devoid of any poetry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietros-maneos/his-is-a-poetry-devoid-of-any-poetry/) [Pietros Maneos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietros-maneos/) > [The three most important events of human life are equally devoid of reason: birth, marriage and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/the-three-most-important-events-of-human-life-are-equally-devoid-of/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/he-who-is-devoid-of-the-power-to-forgive-is-devoid-of-the-power-to/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I love you', though, were three words she had often heard during her twenty-two years, and it seemed to her that they were now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-love-you-though-were-three-words-she-had-often-heard-during-her/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The propositions of mathematics are devoid of all factual content; they convey no information whatever on any empirical subject matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-gustav-hempel/the-propositions-of-mathematics-are-devoid-of-all-factual-content/) [Carl Gustav Hempel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-gustav-hempel/) ## More by Mary Karr > [I do have a really good memory. I mean, like, I can remember all the phone numbers of everybody on the street I grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-do-have-a-really-good-memory-i-mean-like-i-can-remember-all-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Ninety percent of what's wrong with you could be cured with a hot bath, says God from the bowels of the subway. but we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/ninety-percent-of-what-s-wrong-with-you-could-be-cured-with-a-hot/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [I always say that a poet loves the world, and the prose writer needs to create an alternative world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-always-say-that-a-poet-loves-the-world-and-the-prose-writer-needs/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Even the best of us are at least part-time bastards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/even-the-best-of-us-are-at-least-part-time-bastards/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“And Meredith says that reminds her of a Camus novel, the one about the plague, and she tells the story of it, the tale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/and-meredith-says-that-reminds-her-of-a-camus-novel-the-one-about-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [When people suffer, their relationships usually suffer as well. Period. And we all suffer because, as the Buddha says, that's the nature of being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/when-people-suffer-their-relationships-usually-suffer-as-well-period/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [I'm not nearly smart enough or imaginative enough to tackle the novel form. Never happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-m-not-nearly-smart-enough-or-imaginative-enough-to-tackle-the-novel/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“Then it hits me. I’m actually kneeling before a toilet. The throne, as other drunks call it. How many drunken nights and slungover mornings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/then-it-hits-me-i-m-actually-kneeling-before-a-toilet-the-throne-as/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“I think about the story of Job I heard in Carol Sharp's Sunday school. How he sort of learned to lean into feeling hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-think-about-the-story-of-job-i-heard-in-carol-sharp-s-sunday-school/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [I believe in God, but even if you don't, you can believe in a self, the person who is innately who you are. Once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-believe-in-god-but-even-if-you-don-t-you-can-believe-in-a-self-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [Love is the only passion which includes in its dreams the happiness of someone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/love-is-the-only-passion-which-includes-in-its-dreams-the-happiness/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It strikes me that whatever advantages there are to being a boy--getting to stay out late and having other people wash your clothes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/it-strikes-me-that-whatever-advantages-there-are-to-being-a-boy/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“I liked to call myself a poet and had affected a habit of reading classical texts (in translation, of course – I was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/i-liked-to-call-myself-a-poet-and-had-affected-a-habit-of-reading/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [It turned out to be impossible for me to 'run away' in the sense other American teenagers did. Any movement at all was taken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/it-turned-out-to-be-impossible-for-me-to-run-away-in-the-sense-other/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) > [“What hurts so bad about youth isn't the actual butt whippings the world delivers. It's the stupid hopes playacting like certainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-karr/what-hurts-so-bad-about-youth-isn-t-the-actual-butt-whippings-the/) [Mary Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) [Explore all 133 Mary Karr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-karr/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [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/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People who didn't live pre-Internet can't grasp how devoid of ideas life in my hometown was. 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