--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry has a way of teaching one what one…" description: "\"Poetry has a way of teaching one what one needs to know ... if one is honest.\" — May Sarton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/may-sarton-897_education_poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-on_2894951.jpg" --- # Poetry has a way of teaching one what one needs to know… ![“Poetry has a way of teaching one what one needs to know ... if one is honest.” quote by May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/may-sarton-897_education_poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-on_2894951.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/may-sarton-897_education_poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-on_2894951.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/may-sarton-897_education_poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-on_2894951.jpg) > “Poetry has a way of teaching one what one needs to know ... if one is honest.” [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry teaches essential truths when we approach it with honesty and openness. **In simple terms:** Poetry reveals truths if you’re honest. Key Takeaway Read poetry honestly to discover personal insights. Themes art self‑knowledge honesty Mood contemplative introspective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - journaling - literature classes - personal reflection - therapy sessions Key Concepts metaphor emotional intelligence Questions to Reflect On - What truth have you learned from a poem? - How does honesty change your reading? A Different Perspective Poetry can be misinterpreted without context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Know Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-honest-861986/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Needs Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs-know-394241/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-way-267357/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Teaching Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching-needs-4085535/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Teaching needs an ecosystem that supports evidence-based practice. It will need better systems to disseminate the results of research more widely, but also a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-goldacre/teaching-needs-an-ecosystem-that-supports-evidence-based-practice-it/) [Ben Goldacre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-goldacre/) > [When I'm onstage they know I'm honest, and I try to be as humble as I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chubby-checker/when-i-m-onstage-they-know-i-m-honest-and-i-try-to-be-as-humble-as-i/) [Chubby Checker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chubby-checker/) > [What I know is that I am honest about my films, and my films are honest about reality. The stories themselves dictate the way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrey-zvyagintsev/what-i-know-is-that-i-am-honest-about-my-films-and-my-films-are/) [Andrey Zvyagintsev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrey-zvyagintsev/) > [poetry is first of all a way of life and only secondarily a way of writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/poetry-is-first-of-all-a-way-of-life-and-only-secondarily-a-way-of/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Women want honesty but sometimes get upset if you are honest, so you need to know when to be honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-hamilton/women-want-honesty-but-sometimes-get-upset-if-you-are-honest-so-you/) [George Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-hamilton/) > [Please understand that I make music to express myself, and if you know anything about me, you know that I'm nothing but honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/please-understand-that-i-make-music-to-express-myself-and-if-you-know/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) > [You can never judge me for who or what I am because you dont know me, to be honest I dont know who you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princeazheef/you-can-never-judge-me-for-who-or-what-i-am-because-you-dont-know-me/) [PrinceAzheef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princeazheef/) > [I'm trying to know who I am and be honest about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-harding/i-m-trying-to-know-who-i-am-and-be-honest-about-it/) [Aldous Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-harding/) > [I just want to make one really good movie a year. And when I die, to know I was honest as an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milla-jovovich/i-just-want-to-make-one-really-good-movie-a-year-and-when-i-die-to/) [Milla Jovovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milla-jovovich/) > [If I do get offended, you'll probably know about it because I'm very honest and I don't hold back when it comes to speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-cambage/if-i-do-get-offended-you-ll-probably-know-about-it-because-i-m-very/) [Liz Cambage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-cambage/) > [“Most people are clever because they don't know how to be honest." William Gaddis, The Recognitions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gaddis/most-people-are-clever-because-they-don-t-know-how-to-be-honest/) [William Gaddis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gaddis/) > [Real men know how to listen, and real men know how to be honest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-l-martin/real-men-know-how-to-listen-and-real-men-know-how-to-be-honest/) [Jesse L. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-l-martin/) > [“To build and maintain deep, substantive relationships, people must know themselves, be honest about themselves, and share their true selves with others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-moody/to-build-and-maintain-deep-substantive-relationships-people-must-know/) [Van Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-moody/) > [“All this is on a strictly need-to-know basis. As in, nobody else needs to know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/all-this-is-on-a-strictly-need-to-know-basis-as-in-nobody-else-needs/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [The next president needs to know foreign policy and not learn it on the job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-brownback/the-next-president-needs-to-know-foreign-policy-and-not-learn-it-on/) [Sam Brownback](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-brownback/) ## More by May Sarton > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Most people have to talk so they won't hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/most-people-have-to-talk-so-they-won-t-hear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [People who cannot feel punish those who do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/people-who-cannot-feel-punish-those-who-do/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [This suspension of one's own reality, this being entirely alone in a strange city (at times I wondered if I had lost the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/this-suspension-of-one-s-own-reality-this-being-entirely-alone-in-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/one-must-think-like-a-hero-to-behave-like-a-merely-decent-human-being/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Real joy is becoming exceedingly rare among artists of any kind. And I have an idea that those who can and do communicate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/real-joy-is-becoming-exceedingly-rare-among-artists-of-any-kind-and-i/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For to be desperate is to discover strength. / We die of comfort and by conflict live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-to-be-desperate-is-to-discover-strength-we-die-of-comfort-and-by/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“I see you with that shell Held to your sensitive abstracted ear, Hunting the ocean’s rumor till you hear it well, Until you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-see-you-with-that-shell-held-to-your-sensitive-abstracted-ear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [There is a wilder solitude in winter When every sense is pricked alive and keen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/there-is-a-wilder-solitude-in-winter-when-every-sense-is-pricked/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-long-for-the-bulbs-to-arrive-for-the-early-autumn-chores-are/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Why is it that people who cannot show feeling presume that that is a strength and not a weakness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/why-is-it-that-people-who-cannot-show-feeling-presume-that-that-is-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Innocence is not pure so much as pleased, Always expectant, bright-eyed, self-enclosed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/innocence-is-not-pure-so-much-as-pleased-always-expectant-bright-eyed/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-have-written-every-poem-every-novel-for-the-same-purpose-to-find/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For art is order, but it is born out of the chaos of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-art-is-order-but-it-is-born-out-of-the-chaos-of-life/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [all great people are humble because great people have great work and are humbled by the largeness of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/all-great-people-are-humble-because-great-people-have-great-work-and/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) [Explore all 336 May Sarton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. Otherwise the world would be full of millionaires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mwanandeke-kindembo/in-school-you-are-taught-to-obey-and-not-to-think-straight-for-your/) [Mwanandeke Kindembo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mwanandeke-kindembo/) > [For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/for-successful-education-there-must-always-be-a-certain-freshness-in/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) [Ioannes Amos Commenius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ioannes-amos-commenius/) > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) [H.D. (Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-d-hilda-doolittle/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry has a way of teaching one what one needs to know ... if one is honest.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "May Sarton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-one-needs-to-know-if-one-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-one-needs-to-know-if-one-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/may-sarton-897_education_poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-on_2894951.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/may-sarton-897_education_poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-on_2894951.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/826/may-sarton-897_education_poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-on_2894951.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetry has a way of teaching one what one needs to know ... if one is honest.” — May Sarton", "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": "May Sarton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poetry has a way of teaching...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-one-needs-to-know-if-one-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/poetry-has-a-way-of-teaching-one-what-one-needs-to-know-if-one-is/#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 } } ] } ```