--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is strange, how quickly people want to…" description: "\"It is strange, how quickly people want to obligate their poets, as it were, on the exile.\" — Peter Bichsel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/peter-bichsel-41555_exile_it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to_1511984.jpg" --- # It is strange, how quickly people want to obligate their… ![“It is strange, how quickly people want to obligate their poets, as it were, on the exile.” quote by Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/peter-bichsel-41555_exile_it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to_1511984.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/peter-bichsel-41555_exile_it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to_1511984.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/peter-bichsel-41555_exile_it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to_1511984.jpg) > “It is strange, how quickly people want to obligate their poets, as it were, on the exile.” [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society quickly imposes expectations on artists, treating them as exiles from ordinary life. **In simple terms:** People pressure poets to be different. Key Takeaway Support artistic freedom. Themes art societal pressure identity exile Mood critical empathetic Type literary social commentary When to use this quote - literary criticism - media coverage - public policy Key Concepts existentialism cultural critique creativity Questions to Reflect On - How does society shape artistic identity? - Can artists resist being labeled exiles? A Different Perspective Artists may feel isolated when forced into stereotypes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) [Obligate Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obligate-poets-5567817/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-want/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets Exile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-exile-5567816/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Strange Quickly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange-quickly-3151642/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [“Is it not strange how quickly one can become detached from everything? How empty life appears when one is close to death!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-rodenbach/is-it-not-strange-how-quickly-one-can-become-detached-from-everything/) [Georges Rodenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-rodenbach/) > [I have always seen the Clinton Foundation - yes, they do a lot of charitable good works. But by my lights, the charitable good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/i-have-always-seen-the-clinton-foundation-yes-they-do-a-lot-of/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [In New York City, everyone is an exile, none more so than the Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/in-new-york-city-everyone-is-an-exile-none-more-so-than-the-americans/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [The perpetuation of slavery, the exile and extermination of American Indians, and the passage of Jim Crow laws weren't carried out at the bidding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-perpetuation-of-slavery-the-exile-and-extermination-of-american/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. The artist and the addict both wrestle with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-gnostics-believed-that-exile-was-the-essential-condition-of-man/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [Humor is widely used by Indians to deal with life. Indian gatherings are marked by laughter and jokes, many directed at the horrors of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/humor-is-widely-used-by-indians-to-deal-with-life-indian-gatherings/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [I turned what was a wonderful case of self-reliance into a case of self-exile. Which is not uncommon, I think, in people who grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-newman/i-turned-what-was-a-wonderful-case-of-self-reliance-into-a-case-of/) [Leigh Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-newman/) > [“The growth of his power and fame was matched, in my imagination, by the degree of the punishment I would have liked to inflict…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/the-growth-of-his-power-and-fame-was-matched-in-my-imagination-by-the/) [Nabokov i Tyrants Destroyed i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [Independence didn't have to be exile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-alvarez/independence-didn-t-have-to-be-exile/) [Julia Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-alvarez/) > [They came to know the incorrigible sorrow of all prisoners and exiles, which is to live in company with a memory that serves no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/they-came-to-know-the-incorrigible-sorrow-of-all-prisoners-and-exiles/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I had severed relations with the Romanian exiles who had become politically conservative and even extremely right wing; I was giving chess lessons to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/i-had-severed-relations-with-the-romanian-exiles-who-had-become/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [To live is to hurt others, and through others, to hurt oneself. Cruel earth! How can we manage not to touch anything? To find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/to-live-is-to-hurt-others-and-through-others-to-hurt-oneself-cruel/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, it is with me wherever I go. To imprison me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/what-can-my-enemies-do-to-me-my-paradise-is-in-my-heart-it-is-with-me/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) > [Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farid-al-din-attar/were-you-indeed-not-blinded-by-the-curse-of-self-exile-that-still/) [Farid al-Din Attar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farid-al-din-attar/) ## More by Peter Bichsel > [Literature is about as unnecessarily necessarily as tableware or ironed shirts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/literature-is-about-as-unnecessarily-necessarily-as-tableware-or/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [The problems of our country are very fast to recognize.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/the-problems-of-our-country-are-very-fast-to-recognize/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [I wanted to write a novel. At 12 I knew, I am a writer. I said it to nobody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/i-wanted-to-write-a-novel-at-12-i-knew-i-am-a-writer-i-said-it-to/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [I was convinced that the world was in the departure and paging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/i-was-convinced-that-the-world-was-in-the-departure-and-paging/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [Only that Swiss in the heart want still a king or at least a strong Upper House of Parliament. Swiss long themselves for less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/only-that-swiss-in-the-heart-want-still-a-king-or-at-least-a-strong/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [Writers let themselves be enticed by the language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/writers-let-themselves-be-enticed-by-the-language/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [Why does one always ask a writer why they stopped? I am sure everyone finds in any drawer a few dear poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/why-does-one-always-ask-a-writer-why-they-stopped-i-am-sure-everyone/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) > [That is a secondary teacher conception - the writer as an observer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/that-is-a-secondary-teacher-conception-the-writer-as-an-observer/) [Peter Bichsel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) [Explore all 9 Peter Bichsel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/) ## More Exile quotes > [Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farid-al-din-attar/were-you-indeed-not-blinded-by-the-curse-of-self-exile-that-still/) [Farid al-Din Attar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farid-al-din-attar/) > [What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart, it is with me wherever I go. To imprison me is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-taymiyyah/what-can-my-enemies-do-to-me-my-paradise-is-in-my-heart-it-is-with-me/) [Ibn Taymiyyah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-taymiyyah/) > [To live is to hurt others, and through others, to hurt oneself. Cruel earth! How can we manage not to touch anything? To find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/to-live-is-to-hurt-others-and-through-others-to-hurt-oneself-cruel/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I had severed relations with the Romanian exiles who had become politically conservative and even extremely right wing; I was giving chess lessons to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dumitru-tepeneag/i-had-severed-relations-with-the-romanian-exiles-who-had-become/) [Dumitru Tepeneag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dumitru-tepeneag/) > [They came to know the incorrigible sorrow of all prisoners and exiles, which is to live in company with a memory that serves no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/they-came-to-know-the-incorrigible-sorrow-of-all-prisoners-and-exiles/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Independence didn't have to be exile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-alvarez/independence-didn-t-have-to-be-exile/) [Julia Alvarez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-alvarez/) > [In our culture of constant access and nonstop media, nothing feels more like a curse from God than time in the wilderness. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-martin/in-our-culture-of-constant-access-and-nonstop-media-nothing-feels/) [Jonathan Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-martin/) > [“The growth of his power and fame was matched, in my imagination, by the degree of the punishment I would have liked to inflict…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/the-growth-of-his-power-and-fame-was-matched-in-my-imagination-by-the/) [Nabokov i Tyrants Destroyed i](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nabokov-i-tyrants-destroyed-i/) > [I turned what was a wonderful case of self-reliance into a case of self-exile. Which is not uncommon, I think, in people who grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-newman/i-turned-what-was-a-wonderful-case-of-self-reliance-into-a-case-of/) [Leigh Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-newman/) > [Humor is widely used by Indians to deal with life. Indian gatherings are marked by laughter and jokes, many directed at the horrors of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-gunn-allen/humor-is-widely-used-by-indians-to-deal-with-life-indian-gatherings/) [Paula Gunn Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-gunn-allen/) > [The Gnostics believed that exile was the essential condition of man. Do you agree? I do. The artist and the addict both wrestle with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-gnostics-believed-that-exile-was-the-essential-condition-of-man/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [The perpetuation of slavery, the exile and extermination of American Indians, and the passage of Jim Crow laws weren't carried out at the bidding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/the-perpetuation-of-slavery-the-exile-and-extermination-of-american/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [In New York City, everyone is an exile, none more so than the Americans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/in-new-york-city-everyone-is-an-exile-none-more-so-than-the-americans/) [Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/) > [I have always seen the Clinton Foundation - yes, they do a lot of charitable good works. But by my lights, the charitable good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonah-goldberg/i-have-always-seen-the-clinton-foundation-yes-they-do-a-lot-of/) [Jonah Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonah-goldberg/) > [We live in an era where masses of people come and go across a hostile planet, desolate and violent. Refugees, emigrants, exiles, deportees. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/we-live-in-an-era-where-masses-of-people-come-and-go-across-a-hostile/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) [Browse all 512 Exile quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exile/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is strange, how quickly people want to obligate their poets, as it were, on the exile.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Bichsel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to-obligate-their-poets-as-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exile" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to-obligate-their-poets-as-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/peter-bichsel-41555_exile_it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to_1511984.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/peter-bichsel-41555_exile_it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to_1511984.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f93/peter-bichsel-41555_exile_it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to_1511984.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is strange, how quickly people want to obligate their poets, as it were, on the exile.” — Peter Bichsel", "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": "Peter Bichsel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-bichsel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is strange, how quickly people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to-obligate-their-poets-as-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-bichsel/it-is-strange-how-quickly-people-want-to-obligate-their-poets-as-it/#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 } } ] } ```