Artist Quote by Walker Percy
“If poets often commit suicide, it is not because their poems are bad but because they are good. Whoever heard of a bad poet committing suicide? The reader is only a little better off. The exhilaration of a good poem lasts twenty minutes, an hour at most. Unlike the scientist, the artist has reentry problems that are frequent and catastrophic.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, 1961
The quote suggests that poets' suicides stem from the intensity of their talent, not failure; their art creates profound, fleeting joy that can be overwhelming.
In simple terms: Poets die from creative intensity, not poor work.
Key Takeaway
Recognize the weight of artistic brilliance.
Themes
art
creativity
mental health
existentialism
Mood
melancholic
reflective
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- writing
- public speaking
- personal crises
- creative burnout
Key Concepts
existential angst
artist's burden
Questions to Reflect On
- How does intense creative output affect mental health?
- Can society better support artists?
A Different Perspective
Artistic brilliance can be psychologically destabilizing.
![“[In art] you are telling the reader or the listener or the viewer something he already knows but which he doesn't quite know that he knows, so that in the action of communication he experiences a recognition, a feeling that he has been there before, a shock of recognition.” quote by Walker Percy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3f1/walker-percy-1958_action_in-art-you-are-telling-the-reader-or-the_116938.jpg)
