Desert island Quote by Patrick Leigh Fermor
““At school some learning by heart was compulsory, though not irksome. But this intake was out-distanced many times, as it always is among people who need poetry, by a private anthology, both of those automatically absorbed and of poems consciously chosen and memorized as though one were stocking up for a desert island or for a stretch of solitary.””
About This Quote
Source Travelogue: A Time of Gifts, 1977
Memorizing poetry is a personal, creative act that differs from compulsory rote learning, offering a private reservoir for solitude.
In simple terms: Learning poetry is a personal, creative act.
Cultivate personal artistic reserves.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- education
- creative writing
- mental health
- loneliness coping
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How does personal poetry help you in isolation?
- What poems would you choose to memorize?
Rote memorization still has practical benefits.