--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even a polemic has some justification if…" description: "\"Even a polemic has some justification if one considers that my own first poetic experiments began during a dictatorship and mark the origin of the Herm..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/salvatore-quasimodo-20910_dictatorship_even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if_1508584.png" --- # Even a polemic has some justification if one considers… ![“Even a polemic has some justification if one considers that my own first poetic experiments began during a dictatorship and mark the origin of the Hermetic movement.” quote by Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/salvatore-quasimodo-20910_dictatorship_even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if_1508584.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/salvatore-quasimodo-20910_dictatorship_even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if_1508584.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/salvatore-quasimodo-20910_dictatorship_even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if_1508584.png) > “Even a polemic has some justification if one considers that my own first poetic experiments began during a dictatorship and mark the origin of the Hermetic movement.” [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even a controversial argument can be justified when rooted in personal artistic origins during oppressive times, marking a movement’s birth. **In simple terms:** Controversy can have valid roots. Key Takeaway Recognize context behind debates. Themes art politics history expression Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical historical When to use this quote - literary criticism - political discourse - historical analysis - artistic movements Key Concepts ethical justification creative origins Questions to Reflect On - How does oppression shape art? - When is polemics constructive? A Different Perspective Justification may be biased by personal perspective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dictatorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictatorship/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Justification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justification/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Poetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic/) ## Related quotes > [Lutherans, whose arguments and mistakes will not be difficult to contest or discover, do not want to attribute any value to works, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-servetus/lutherans-whose-arguments-and-mistakes-will-not-be-difficult-to/) [Michael Servetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-servetus/) > [People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/people-often-say-that-humans-have-always-eaten-animals-as-if-this-is/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) > [It could never be a correct justification that, because the whites oppressed us yesterday when they had power, that the blacks must oppress them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mugabe/it-could-never-be-a-correct-justification-that-because-the-whites/) [Robert Mugabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mugabe/) > [They have this social justification for every nasty thing they do!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/they-have-this-social-justification-for-every-nasty-thing-they-do/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“Self-justification is the enemy of repentance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/self-justification-is-the-enemy-of-repentance/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [How could one comfort a disturbed person? He is already assailed with doubts about his faith. He would have to despair with such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-f-w-walther/how-could-one-comfort-a-disturbed-person-he-is-already-assailed-with/) [C. F. W. Walther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-f-w-walther/) > [“To recklessly excuse a failure is to believe that I’ve effectively erased it from the story of my life, when I’ve actually imprinted it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-recklessly-excuse-a-failure-is-to-believe-that-i-ve-effectively/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [You can see the rider serving the elephant when people are morally dumbfounded. They have strong gut feelings about what is right and wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/you-can-see-the-rider-serving-the-elephant-when-people-are-morally/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [Those who love him love that he sells the most art; they take it as a point of faith that this proves Kinkade is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-saltz/those-who-love-him-love-that-he-sells-the-most-art-they-take-it-as-a/) [Jerry Saltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-saltz/) > [An excuse is a justification to make the soul feel good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-baker/an-excuse-is-a-justification-to-make-the-soul-feel-good/) Regina Baker > [The ultimate justification of the work of art is to help the spectator to become a work of art himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-berenson/the-ultimate-justification-of-the-work-of-art-is-to-help-the/) [Bernard Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-berenson/) > [“Expressed in theological terms, “In justification our own works have no place at all, and simple faith in Christ is the one thing needful.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-l-brown/expressed-in-theological-terms-in-justification-our-own-works-have-no/) [Michael L. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-l-brown/) > [“I have heard several people justify working long hours and getting home from work late it night by saying things like, “I have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-willey/i-have-heard-several-people-justify-working-long-hours-and-getting/) [Daniel Willey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-willey/) > [If memory survived eternally, then indeed there might be justification for a belief in hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/if-memory-survived-eternally-then-indeed-there-might-be-justification/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [While society cannot provide employment for its members, the production/work/income nexus has to be abandoned as a justification for our present parsimony to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/while-society-cannot-provide-employment-for-its-members-the/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) ## More by Salvatore Quasimodo > [“Ognuno sta solo sul cuor della terra trafitto da un raggio di sole: ed e subito sera. (Everyone stands along on the heart of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/ognuno-sta-solo-sul-cuor-della-terra-trafitto-da-un-raggio-di-sole-ed/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [In opposition to this detachment, he finds an image of man which contains within itself man's dreams, man's illness, man's redemption from the misery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/in-opposition-to-this-detachment-he-finds-an-image-of-man-which/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [The poet does not fear death, not because he believes in the fantasy of heroes, but because death constantly visits his thoughts and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/the-poet-does-not-fear-death-not-because-he-believes-in-the-fantasy/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [Poetry is also the physical self of the poet, and it is impossible to separate the poet from his poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/poetry-is-also-the-physical-self-of-the-poet-and-it-is-impossible-to/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [He passes from lyric to epic poetry in order to speak about the world and the torment in the world through man, rationally and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/he-passes-from-lyric-to-epic-poetry-in-order-to-speak-about-the-world/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [An exact poetic duplication of a man is for the poet a negation of the earth, an impossibility of being, even though his greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/an-exact-poetic-duplication-of-a-man-is-for-the-poet-a-negation-of/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal which the reader recognizes as his own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/poetry-is-the-revelation-of-a-feeling-that-the-poet-believes-to-be/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [War, I have always said, forces men to change their standards, regardless of whether their country has won or lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/war-i-have-always-said-forces-men-to-change-their-standards/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [As the poet has expected, the alarms now are sounded, for - and it must be said again - the birth of a poet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/as-the-poet-has-expected-the-alarms-now-are-sounded-for-and-it-must/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [Thus, the poet's word is beginning to strike forcefully upon the hearts of all men, while absolute men of letters think that they alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/thus-the-poet-s-word-is-beginning-to-strike-forcefully-upon-the/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [From the night, his solitude, the poet finds day and starts a diary that is lethal to the inert. The dark landscape yields a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/from-the-night-his-solitude-the-poet-finds-day-and-starts-a-diary/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [Europeans know the importance of the Resistance; it has been the shining example of the modern conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/europeans-know-the-importance-of-the-resistance-it-has-been-the/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [The Resistance is a moral certainty, not a poetic one. The true poet never uses words in order to punish someone. His judgment belongs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/the-resistance-is-a-moral-certainty-not-a-poetic-one-the-true-poet/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [My readers at that time were still men of letters; but there had to be other people waiting to read my poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/my-readers-at-that-time-were-still-men-of-letters-but-there-had-to-be/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) > [The poet's other readers are the ancient poets, who look upon the freshly written pages from an incorruptible distance. Their poetic forms are permanent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/the-poet-s-other-readers-are-the-ancient-poets-who-look-upon-the/) [Salvatore Quasimodo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) [Explore all 30 Salvatore Quasimodo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/) ## More Dictatorship quotes > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [Dictatorship is rule based directly upon force and unrestricted by any laws. The revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat is rule won and maintained by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/dictatorship-is-rule-based-directly-upon-force-and-unrestricted-by/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [I was born in Cuba. At the age of 14 years of age I was involved in a revolution. We were suffering from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/i-was-born-in-cuba-at-the-age-of-14-years-of-age-i-was-involved-in-a/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [The situation with Tibet has to change. China is one of the last huge dictatorships, holding on to these colonies, provinces. That has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-yauch/the-situation-with-tibet-has-to-change-china-is-one-of-the-last-huge/) [Adam Yauch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-yauch/) > [Motherland is our property and we have right to handle our properties as pleased. The jokes about death for the sake of the motherland…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/motherland-is-our-property-and-we-have-right-to-handle-our-properties/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [Your best friends are your principles, if you havent them, dont look for another friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/your-best-friends-are-your-principles-if-you-havent-them-dont-look/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [“. Despite the considerable horror they had felt when the SA men were bellowing crude anti-Semitic slogans, in retrospect the joke-tellers were very much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolph-herzog/despite-the-considerable-horror-they-had-felt-when-the-sa-men-were/) [Rudolph Herzog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolph-herzog/) > [A strong saying is not afraid of criticism, because it includes all the answers to criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/a-strong-saying-is-not-afraid-of-criticism-because-it-includes-all/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [The dictatorship of the proletariat and the leadership of the Marxist-Leninist party are indispensable conditions for the triumph of the Socialist revolution and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/the-dictatorship-of-the-proletariat-and-the-leadership-of-the-marxist/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [I never thought about becoming a politician. But during the military dictatorship, my grandfather was put in prison six times and my father twice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-papandreou/i-never-thought-about-becoming-a-politician-but-during-the-military/) [George Papandreou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-papandreou/) > [ “\[...\] dictatorship, the most extreme form of tyranny, can never lead to social liberation.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/dictatorship-the-most-extreme-form-of-tyranny-can-never-lead-to/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [In many ways, the media today makes dictatorship impossible. But it also makes democracy intolerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/in-many-ways-the-media-today-makes-dictatorship-impossible-but-it/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [“Your law always does more harm than crime, and your morality is a form of violence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bond/your-law-always-does-more-harm-than-crime-and-your-morality-is-a-form/) [Edward Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bond/) > [Something that comes to us, some gym shoe that comes to us as a result of child labor from a brutal dictatorship, where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/something-that-comes-to-us-some-gym-shoe-that-comes-to-us-as-a-result/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) [Browse all 793 Dictatorship quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictatorship/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Even a polemic has some justification if one considers that my own first poetic experiments began during a dictatorship and mark the origin of the Hermetic movement.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Salvatore Quasimodo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if-one-considers-that-my-own/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dictatorship" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if-one-considers-that-my-own/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/salvatore-quasimodo-20910_dictatorship_even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if_1508584.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/salvatore-quasimodo-20910_dictatorship_even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if_1508584.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a25/salvatore-quasimodo-20910_dictatorship_even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if_1508584.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Even a polemic has some justification if one considers that my own first poetic experiments began during a…” — Salvatore Quasimodo", "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": "Salvatore Quasimodo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salvatore-quasimodo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Even a polemic has some justification...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if-one-considers-that-my-own/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salvatore-quasimodo/even-a-polemic-has-some-justification-if-one-considers-that-my-own/#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 } } ] } ```