--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To say a poem is absolute is saying…" description: "\"To say a poem is absolute is saying nothing, because an ink blot can be absolute. Yet you put into it what you like. So it becomes totally relative.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/nicholas-mosley-31638_becomes_to-say-a-poem-is-absolute-is-saying-noth_2084601.jpg" --- # To say a poem is absolute is saying nothing, because an… ![“To say a poem is absolute is saying nothing, because an ink blot can be absolute. Yet you put into it what you like. So it becomes totally relative.” quote by Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/nicholas-mosley-31638_becomes_to-say-a-poem-is-absolute-is-saying-noth_2084601.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/nicholas-mosley-31638_becomes_to-say-a-poem-is-absolute-is-saying-noth_2084601.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/405/nicholas-mosley-31638_becomes_to-say-a-poem-is-absolute-is-saying-noth_2084601.jpg) > “To say a poem is absolute is saying nothing, because an ink blot can be absolute. Yet you put into it what you like. So it becomes totally relative.” [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Declaring a poem absolute is meaningless; like an ink blot, its meaning is relative to the reader’s interpretation. **In simple terms:** Poetry is subjective; meaning changes with each reader. Key Takeaway Embrace multiple interpretations of art. Themes art subjectivity interpretation Mood thoughtful analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - literary criticism - education - creative writing workshops Key Concepts relativism creative expression Questions to Reflect On - How does personal bias affect reading poetry? - Can a poem have a definitive meaning? A Different Perspective Absolute claims can limit creative freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute/) [Absolute Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-like-4090160/) [Absolute Saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolute-saying-4090158/) [Becomes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becomes/) [Blot Absolute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blot-absolute-4090159/) [Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [Poem Absolute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poem-absolute-4090157/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say/) [Saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saying/) ## Related quotes > [It's an apathy so absolute that it's like a hole you might fall in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/it-s-an-apathy-so-absolute-that-it-s-like-a-hole-you-might-fall-in/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [“Zero is a gateway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/zero-is-a-gateway/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [Absolute faith can blind you to the consequences of the actions you allow. 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The real value and meaning of the Being are not in its necessity but in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/the-necessity-of-nothingness-does-not-create-anything-the-real-value/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [Absolute is a game with only one player where Absolute forgets itself so it would have a reason to fulfill the motion while returning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/absolute-is-a-game-with-only-one-player-where-absolute-forgets-itself/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) ## More by Nicholas Mosley > [“It is very difficult to love people who are good to us: it is easier to imagine we are loving people we can condescend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/it-is-very-difficult-to-love-people-who-are-good-to-us-it-is-easier/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“Love is in prospect or retrospect, the present is ecstasy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/love-is-in-prospect-or-retrospect-the-present-is-ecstasy/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [There is curiously little art concerning the efficacy of reason - perhaps simply because reason is not noticeably efficacious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/there-is-curiously-little-art-concerning-the-efficacy-of-reason/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [“The ritual was kissing her at various parts as if I were adorning her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-mosley/the-ritual-was-kissing-her-at-various-parts-as-if-i-were-adorning-her/) [Nicholas Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-mosley/) > [I don't think I've ever read an old book through from start to finish. 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Everything changes, everything moves, everything revolves, everything flies and goes away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frida-kahlo/nothing-is-absolute-everything-changes-everything-moves-everything/) [Frida Kahlo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frida-kahlo/) > [I - it's simply not for me to evaluate an independent rating agency's processes. But I will say that there was reason to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-carney/i-it-s-simply-not-for-me-to-evaluate-an-independent-rating-agency-s/) [Jay Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-carney/) > [Absolute morality is the regulation of conduct in such a way that pain shall not be inflicted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/absolute-morality-is-the-regulation-of-conduct-in-such-a-way-that/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [What is liberty? There is no such thing as absolute liberty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benito-mussolini/what-is-liberty-there-is-no-such-thing-as-absolute-liberty/) [Benito Mussolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benito-mussolini/) > [Doing the right thing at all costs is an absolute, and only a sith deals in absolutes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-filoni/doing-the-right-thing-at-all-costs-is-an-absolute-and-only-a-sith/) [Dave Filoni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-filoni/) > [“Energy is the world-born phenomenon, the world that puts itself in motion and flies into space by receiving space into itself. From this point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/energy-is-the-world-born-phenomenon-the-world-that-puts-itself-in/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. 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