Business Quote by T. S. Eliot
“The business of the poet is not to find new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones and, in working them up into poetry, to express feelings which are not in actual emotions at all.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: "The Metaphysical Poets" by T. S. Eliot, 1921
Poetry transforms everyday emotions into heightened, imagined feelings, creating art beyond ordinary experience.
In simple terms: Poetry turns common feelings into something deeper.
Key Takeaway
Use familiar feelings to craft new meaning.
Themes
creativity
emotion
artistry
Mood
reflective
introspective
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- writing workshops
- teaching poetry
- personal reflection
- creative therapy
Key Concepts
metaphor
transformation
imagination
Questions to Reflect On
- How can ordinary feelings become extraordinary in art?
- What risks arise when reshaping emotions?
A Different Perspective
May overlook the value of raw, unfiltered emotion.
![“the ordinary man's experience is chaotic, irregular, fragmentary. [He] falls in love or reads Spinoza, and these two experiences have nothing to do with each other, or with the noise of the typewriter, or the smell of cooking; in the mind of the poet these experiences are always forming new wholes” quote by T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/18e/t-s-eliot-633_art_the-ordinary-man-s-experience-is-chaotic_93688.jpg)
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![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)
