--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetical feelings are a peril to…" description: "\"Poetical feelings are a peril to scholarship. There are always poetical people ready to protest that a corrupt line is exquisite. Exquisite to whom? Th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/tom-stoppard-437_exquisite_poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholar_783494.jpg" --- # Poetical feelings are a peril to scholarship. There are… ![“Poetical feelings are a peril to scholarship. There are always poetical people ready to protest that a corrupt line is exquisite. Exquisite to whom? The Romans were foreigners writing for foreigners two millenniums ago; and for people whose gods we find quaint, whose savagery we abominate, whose…” quote by Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/tom-stoppard-437_exquisite_poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholar_783494.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/tom-stoppard-437_exquisite_poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholar_783494.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/tom-stoppard-437_exquisite_poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholar_783494.jpg) > “Poetical feelings are a peril to scholarship. There are always poetical people ready to protest that a corrupt line is exquisite. Exquisite to whom? The Romans were foreigners writing for foreigners two millenniums ago; and for people whose gods we find quaint, whose savagery we abominate, whose private habits we don't like to talk about, but whose idea of what is exquisite is, we flatter ourselves, mysteriously identical to ours.” [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques how aesthetic judgments can be biased by cultural and scholarly pretensions, suggesting that what is deemed "exquisite" often reflects the judge's own worldview rather than an objective standard. **In simple terms:** Taste is shaped by one's own culture and biases. Key Takeaway Question your own standards of beauty. Themes culture bias art criticism subjectivity history Mood reflective critical introspective Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - Literary analysis - art education - museum curation - cross‑cultural dialogue Key Concepts Aesthetic relativism cultural hegemony scholarly arrogance Questions to Reflect On - How do your cultural assumptions affect what you consider beautiful? - Can "exquisite" ever be truly objective? A Different Perspective The claim of universal taste can ignore marginalized perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Foreigners](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreigners/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Peril](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peril/) [Poetical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetical/) [Protest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/protest/) [Savagery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/savagery/) [Scholarship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scholarship/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Poetical taste is the only magician whose wand is not broken. No hand, except its own, can dissolve the fabric of beauty in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/poetical-taste-is-the-only-magician-whose-wand-is-not-broken-no-hand/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [“The sunlight and the sounds told him that somewhere in this world there is a pure, refined, poetical life. But where was it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/the-sunlight-and-the-sounds-told-him-that-somewhere-in-this-world/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [In my own life, I believe it was an early education in poetical metaphor that helped me to grapple with and make sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/in-my-own-life-i-believe-it-was-an-early-education-in-poetical/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [Poetical appreciation is only newly bursting on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-rosenberg/poetical-appreciation-is-only-newly-bursting-on-me/) [Isaac Rosenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-rosenberg/) > [If life is not always poetical, it is at least metrical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-meynell/if-life-is-not-always-poetical-it-is-at-least-metrical/) [Alice Meynell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-meynell/) > [It is my belief that many who think they dislike poetry are really poetical in their natures and are indebted to it, more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-f-whitney/it-is-my-belief-that-many-who-think-they-dislike-poetry-are-really/) [Orson F. Whitney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-f-whitney/) > [Nearly all men and women are poetical, to some extent, but very few can be called poets. There are great poets, small poets, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-f-whitney/nearly-all-men-and-women-are-poetical-to-some-extent-but-very-few-can/) [Orson F. Whitney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-f-whitney/) > [That was my way of putting it-not very satisfactory: A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/that-was-my-way-of-putting-it-not-very-satisfactory-a-periphrastic/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/the-death-of-a-beautiful-woman-is-unquestionably-the-most-poetical/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“The cap was gone and the man dropped to his elbows to smell the pipe but the odor of gas was only a rumor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cap-was-gone-and-the-man-dropped-to-his-elbows-to-smell-the-pipe/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Melancholy is ... the most legitimate of all the poetical tones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/melancholy-is-the-most-legitimate-of-all-the-poetical-tones/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [“There again," said Syme irritably, "what is there poetical about being in revolt? You might as well say that it is poetical to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/there-again-said-syme-irritably-what-is-there-poetical-about-being-in/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [If you can't give me poetry, can't you give me poetical science?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ada-lovelace/if-you-can-t-give-me-poetry-can-t-you-give-me-poetical-science/) [Ada Lovelace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ada-lovelace/) > [I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thomson/i-know-no-subject-more-elevating-more-amazing-more-ready-to-the/) [James Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thomson/) > [Marriage is a sort of poetical see-saw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/marriage-is-a-sort-of-poetical-see-saw/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More by Tom Stoppard > [If I wanted to change the world, the last thing I would do is write a play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-i-wanted-to-change-the-world-the-last-thing-i-would-do-is-write-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [If you want to change something by Tuesday, theater is no good. Journalism is what does that. But, if you want to just alter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/if-you-want-to-change-something-by-tuesday-theater-is-no-good/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Childhood is Last Chance Gulch for happiness. After that, you know too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/childhood-is-last-chance-gulch-for-happiness-after-that-you-know-too/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [After all these years, I definitely associate having a pen in my hand with having an ashtray just out of eye line.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/after-all-these-years-i-definitely-associate-having-a-pen-in-my-hand/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [The universe is deterministic all right, just like Newton said, I mean it's trying to be, but the only thing going wrong is people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/the-universe-is-deterministic-all-right-just-like-newton-said-i-mean/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For me, human rights simply endorse a view of life and a set of moral values that are perfectly clear to an eight-year-old child.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-me-human-rights-simply-endorse-a-view-of-life-and-a-set-of-moral/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/what-is-an-artist-for-every-thousand-people-there-s-nine-hundred/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over... Death is not anything... death is not... It's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/dying-is-not-romantic-and-death-is-not-a-game-which-will-soon-be-over/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [I'm not interested in clothes; I just like them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-m-not-interested-in-clothes-i-just-like-them/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [For 10 years of my life, 3 times a day, I thanked the Lord for what I was about to receive and thanked him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/for-10-years-of-my-life-3-times-a-day-i-thanked-the-lord-for-what-i/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [You should not translate for more than two hours at a time. After that, you lose your edge, the language becomes clumsy, rigid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/you-should-not-translate-for-more-than-two-hours-at-a-time-after-that/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [No matter how imperfect things are, if you've got a free press everything is correctable, and without it everything is concealable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/no-matter-how-imperfect-things-are-if-you-ve-got-a-free-press/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [We must be born with an intuition of mortality. Before we know the word for it. Before we know that there are words. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-must-be-born-with-an-intuition-of-mortality-before-we-know-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/eternity-s-a-terrible-thought-i-mean-where-s-it-all-going-to-end/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [There is truth and falsehood in a comma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/there-is-truth-and-falsehood-in-a-comma/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) [Explore all 559 Tom Stoppard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More Exquisite quotes > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. Put back together well, they won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/broken-by-hardships-disappointments-and-tragedy-people-can-become/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [Art is beauty, the perpetual invention of detail, the choice of words, the exquisite care of execution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/art-is-beauty-the-perpetual-invention-of-detail-the-choice-of-words/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [Coral reefs represent some of the worlds most spectacular beauty spots, but they are also the foundation of marine life: without them many of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheherazade-goldsmith/coral-reefs-represent-some-of-the-worlds-most-spectacular-beauty/) [Sheherazade Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheherazade-goldsmith/) > [I consider the differences between man and animals in propensities, feelings, and intellectual faculties, to be the result of the same cause as that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-william-lawrence-1st-baronet/i-consider-the-differences-between-man-and-animals-in-propensities/) Sir William Lawrence, 1st Baronet > [“The bedroom was larger than our entire cottage. Its walls were pale green, delicately sketched with patterns of gold, and the mouldings were golden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/the-bedroom-was-larger-than-our-entire-cottage-its-walls-were-pale/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [“Her features were exquisite perfection, carved by nature with obvious care and never altered by the harshness of life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorraine-heath/her-features-were-exquisite-perfection-carved-by-nature-with-obvious/) [Lorraine Heath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorraine-heath/) > [But to be able to kiss someone you love when you're fully and completely in control of yourself and know who you are...it's exquisite.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/but-to-be-able-to-kiss-someone-you-love-when-you-re-fully-and/) [Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/) > [Life, Lady Stutfield, is simply a mauvais quart d'heure made up of exquisite moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/life-lady-stutfield-is-simply-a-mauvais-quart-d-heure-made-up-of/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Calvin: Today for show and tell, I've brought a tiny miracle of nature: a single snowflake! I think we might all learn a lesson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/calvin-today-for-show-and-tell-i-ve-brought-a-tiny-miracle-of-nature/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Conversation in its happiest development is a link, equally exquisite and adequate, between mind and mind, a system by which men approach one another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/conversation-in-its-happiest-development-is-a-link-equally-exquisite/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Poetry is the exquisite expression of exquisite impressions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philibert-joseph-roux/poetry-is-the-exquisite-expression-of-exquisite-impressions/) [Philibert Joseph Roux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philibert-joseph-roux/) > [Intolerance has always been one of the cornerstones of Christianity - the glorious heritage of the Inquisition. It's no coincidence that most of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madalyn-murray-o-hair/intolerance-has-always-been-one-of-the-cornerstones-of-christianity/) [Madalyn Murray O'Hair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madalyn-murray-o-hair/) > [Barrons was powerful, broodingly good-looking, insanely wealthy, frighteningly intelligent, and had exquisite taste, not to mention a hard body that emitted some kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/barrons-was-powerful-broodingly-good-looking-insanely-wealthy/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Are there many things in this cool-hearted world so utterly exquisite as the pure love of one woman for another woman?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/are-there-many-things-in-this-cool-hearted-world-so-utterly-exquisite/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [My first American ancestor, gentlemen, was an Indian-an early Indian. Your ancestors skinned him alive, and I am an orphan. All those Salem witches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-first-american-ancestor-gentlemen-was-an-indian-an-early-indian/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) Browse all 459 Exquisite quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetical feelings are a peril to scholarship. There are always poetical people ready to protest that a corrupt line is exquisite. Exquisite to whom? The Romans were foreigners writing for foreigners two millenniums ago; and for people whose gods we find quaint, whose savagery we abominate, whose private habits we don't like to talk about, but whose idea of what is exquisite is, we flatter ourselves, mysteriously identical to ours.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Stoppard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholarship-there-are-always/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Exquisite" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholarship-there-are-always/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/tom-stoppard-437_exquisite_poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholar_783494.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/tom-stoppard-437_exquisite_poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholar_783494.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/334/tom-stoppard-437_exquisite_poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholar_783494.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetical feelings are a peril to scholarship. There are always poetical people ready to protest that a…” — Tom Stoppard", "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": "Tom Stoppard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poetical feelings are a peril to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholarship-there-are-always/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/poetical-feelings-are-a-peril-to-scholarship-there-are-always/#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 } } ] } ```