--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In European thought in general, as…" description: "\"In European thought in general, as contrasted with American, vigor, life and originality have a kind of easy, professional utterance. American -- on th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/549/wallace-stevens-846_artistic_in-european-thought-in-general-as-contra_1262522.jpg" --- # In European thought in general, as contrasted with… ![“In European thought in general, as contrasted with American, vigor, life and originality have a kind of easy, professional utterance. American -- on the other hand, is expressed in an eager amateurish way. A European gives a sense of scope, of survey, of consideration. An American is strained…” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/549/wallace-stevens-846_artistic_in-european-thought-in-general-as-contra_1262522.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/549/wallace-stevens-846_artistic_in-european-thought-in-general-as-contra_1262522.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/549/wallace-stevens-846_artistic_in-european-thought-in-general-as-contra_1262522.jpg) > “In European thought in general, as contrasted with American, vigor, life and originality have a kind of easy, professional utterance. American -- on the other hand, is expressed in an eager amateurish way. A European gives a sense of scope, of survey, of consideration. An American is strained, sensational. One is artistic gold; the other is bullion.” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He contrasts American expressive vigor with European measured scope, seeing each as distinct artistic values. **In simple terms:** American art is eager; European is measured. Key Takeaway Recognize cultural stylistic differences. Themes culture art comparison Mood analytical thoughtful Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - literary criticism - design - marketing Key Concepts aesthetic theory national identity creativity Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance vigor and scope? - Can styles blend effectively? A Different Perspective Risk of stereotyping cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artistic/) [Consideration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consideration/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Originality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originality/) [Scope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scope/) [Vigor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vigor/) ## Related quotes > [The Scientific Revolution, that remarkable transformation of European thought that occurred between approximately 1550 and 1700, brought with it an ascendancy of the experimental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/the-scientific-revolution-that-remarkable-transformation-of-european/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [As a European I always thought movie stars and Hollywood were amazing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giuliana-rancic/as-a-european-i-always-thought-movie-stars-and-hollywood-were-amazing/) [Giuliana Rancic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giuliana-rancic/) > [In modern European thought a tragedy is occurring in that the original bonds uniting the affirmative attitude towards the world with ethics are, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/in-modern-european-thought-a-tragedy-is-occurring-in-that-the/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [“entailing difficult technical philosophical terms are so different from those of European thought, that they can hardly ever be accurately translated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/surendranath-dasgupta/entailing-difficult-technical-philosophical-terms-are-so-different/) Surendranath Dasgupta > [Common European thought is the fruit of the immense toil of translators. Without translators, Europe would not exist; translators are more important than members…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/common-european-thought-is-the-fruit-of-the-immense-toil-of/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [It doesn't seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesn-t-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [I think the career of President Mitterrand, which was rather sensational when it was revealed, is probably very typical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-o-paxton/i-think-the-career-of-president-mitterrand-which-was-rather/) [Robert O. Paxton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-o-paxton/) > [It's sensational to be a part of a series that takes on a life of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wagner/it-s-sensational-to-be-a-part-of-a-series-that-takes-on-a-life-of-its/) [Robert Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wagner/) > [Modernity widened the distance between the sensational and the relevant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/modernity-widened-the-distance-between-the-sensational-and-the/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [The most fundamental in me is coming uppermost, and the transient, the sensational, is dispersing, because it can't adversely influence what is essential to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oskar-kokoschka/the-most-fundamental-in-me-is-coming-uppermost-and-the-transient-the/) [Oskar Kokoschka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oskar-kokoschka/) > [ Hitler ... lacked the \[inclination\] for anything more than the occasional sensational display of emotion, in particular the great set-piece speech which mesmerized the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keegan/hitler-lacked-the-inclination-for-anything-more-than-the-occasional/) [John Keegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keegan/) > [from one minute to the next the present is merely an honorary past. It must be filled unceasingly anew to dissemble the curse it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/from-one-minute-to-the-next-the-present-is-merely-an-honorary-past-it/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [I also like to use a sensational headline. Many people read blogs in aggregators, which generally show only the headline. So you have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-wilson/i-also-like-to-use-a-sensational-headline-many-people-read-blogs-in/) [Fred Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-wilson/) > [Neuer is simply sensational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schmeichel/neuer-is-simply-sensational/) [Peter Schmeichel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schmeichel/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More American quotes > [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [William Maxwell's my favorite North American writer, I think. And an Irish writer who used to write for 'The New Yorker' called Maeve Brennan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-munro/william-maxwell-s-my-favorite-north-american-writer-i-think-and-an/) [Alice Munro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-munro/) > [I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp names that never get fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-american-names-the-sharp-names-that-never/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [I really like a lot of American country stuff, so my music has that influence, but I don't like to be set within a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade-bird/i-really-like-a-lot-of-american-country-stuff-so-my-music-has-that/) [Jade Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade-bird/) > [I certainly don't think that the heirs of the American Revolution were a particularly noble class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/i-certainly-don-t-think-that-the-heirs-of-the-american-revolution/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act in a tremendous investment to support millions of workers without a paycheck and behind on bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-auchincloss/congress-passed-the-american-rescue-plan-act-in-a-tremendous/) [Jake Auchincloss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-auchincloss/) > [Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and employ almost half of the working population. Yet because of their size, they rarely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-lipinski/small-businesses-are-the-backbone-of-the-american-economy-and-employ/) [Dan Lipinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-lipinski/) > [Although I write in English, and despite the fact that I'm from America, I consider myself an Armenian writer. The words I use are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/although-i-write-in-english-and-despite-the-fact-that-i-m-from/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [When we first sold the Wallace and Gromit shorts to America, people suggested we get rid of the strange British accents and put clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-park/when-we-first-sold-the-wallace-and-gromit-shorts-to-america-people/) [Nick Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-park/) > [Firefighters and rescue workers are American superheroes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-kennedy/firefighters-and-rescue-workers-are-american-superheroes/) [Kerry Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-kennedy/) > [France has not only built a bureaucratic barrier against American culture, it has constructed a notorious intellectual case against it as well. The French…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-cowen/france-has-not-only-built-a-bureaucratic-barrier-against-american/) [Tyler Cowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-cowen/) > [New York and San Francisco are distinctly different. San Francisco is driving the American media, not New York. You have young, microwaved millionaires and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-whitlock/new-york-and-san-francisco-are-distinctly-different-san-francisco-is/) [Jason Whitlock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-whitlock/) > [Well look, CIA is an agency that has to collect intelligence, do operations. We have to take risks and it's important that we take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-panetta/well-look-cia-is-an-agency-that-has-to-collect-intelligence-do/) [Leon Panetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-panetta/) > [Food as a hobby used to be an elite pastime, and it has become something that is totally ordinary for people of every background.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-goodyear/food-as-a-hobby-used-to-be-an-elite-pastime-and-it-has-become/) [Dana Goodyear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-goodyear/) > [It's important for American soldiers to be culturally sensitive when deployed in foreign countries. But it's just as important for the U.S. never to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/it-s-important-for-american-soldiers-to-be-culturally-sensitive-when/) [Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/) Browse all 7,717 American quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In European thought in general, as contrasted with American, vigor, life and originality have a kind of easy, professional utterance. American -- on the other hand, is expressed in an eager amateurish way. A European gives a sense of scope, of survey, of consideration. An American is strained, sensational. 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