Archibald Macleish Quotes

Powerful Archibald Macleish for Daily Growth

About Archibald Macleish

Archibald MacLeish (1902-1982), an influential American poet, playwright, and public servant, was born in Glencoe, Illinois on July 7, 1902, to a family of Scottish descent. He studied at Yale University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1923. MacLeish's literary career took flight as he began publishing poems and essays while still an undergraduate. His early works were heavily influenced by his experiences during World War I, which he served in the American Red Cross and the U.S. Army Intelligence Reserve. This war-time experience can be seen reflected in his powerful poem, "Young Man without Dreams," published in 1926. MacLeish's career took a dramatic turn when he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry at the age of just 30, making him the youngest person to ever receive this honor. His Pulitzer-winning work, "Conquistador," was published in 1928. In 1930, MacLeish left academia to become Librarian of Congress, a position he held for three years. During his tenure, he focused on making the Library more accessible to the public and promoting literary works. Returning to Harvard in 1933 as a professor of English, MacLeish continued to produce groundbreaking works such as "The Eagle" (1952), a collection of poetry that won him his second Pulitzer Prize. His play, "J.B." (1958), a modern retelling of the Job story, was also met with critical acclaim. Throughout his life, MacLeish's works were marked by a profound engagement with politics and philosophy, as well as a deep love for the power and potential of language. His quote, "A poem should not mean but be," encapsulates this belief in the transformative power of poetry. Archibald MacLeish passed away on April 20, 1982, leaving behind a rich literary legacy that continues to inspire readers today.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep."

Archibald MacLeish suggests that a poet's role transcends merely creating beautiful words; rather, they are tasked with capturing the intangible essence of existence, exposing deceptions, advocating for beliefs, sparking debates, shaping societal perceptions, and awakening minds to stay engaged in life. In essence, poets serve as both cultural critics and visionaries, using their artistry to challenge stagnation and inspire growth.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

This quote by Archibald MacLeish highlights the role of inaction in the face of evil or adversity. It suggests that when good people choose not to take action, they unintentionally contribute to the success of harmful forces. In other words, indifference or lack of action allows evil to thrive. This quote serves as a call to action for everyone to actively engage against wrongdoing and uphold the values of justice and goodness in society.

"You can enter a poem singly, as you might step over a threshold. But if you wish to leave it, every door is locked."

This quote by Archibald Macleish suggests that entering a poem, or any form of art, is effortless, much like crossing a threshold into a room. However, exiting the realm of the poem, or fully understanding its meaning, is not as simple; it requires deeper thought and reflection. The "locked doors" symbolize the complexities and layers within a poem that make it difficult to fully grasp or leave behind after experiencing it. In essence, Macleish implies that art has the power to captivate us, leaving us pondering its depths long after we've engaged with it.

"We are all guided, each hour, real or imagined, by an intelligence we neither understand nor control."

This quote by Archibald Macleish suggests that our lives, whether in moments perceived as real or imagined, are subtly influenced by an intelligence beyond our comprehension or control. It implies a belief that there's a deeper force at play in our daily experiences, which we may not fully understand yet it impacts the decisions and thoughts we make. In essence, it underscores humanity's limited understanding of the complexities of life, while acknowledging an underlying mysterious influence on our existence.

"A man reaches the top of the career ladder and finds it's against the wall."

This quote suggests that achieving a pinnacle in one's professional life (reaching the top of the career ladder) may not necessarily equate to personal fulfillment or success, as the goalpost (the wall) has been reached prematurely, without taking into account other important aspects of life such as growth, self-discovery, and balance. It is a warning against focusing solely on career advancement at the expense of holistic development and well-being.

To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold - brothers who know now they are truly brothers.

- Archibald MacLeish

Small, Brothers, Floats, Loveliness

There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is. It is the American Dream.

- Archibald MacLeish

Mind, Will, Nothing, Liberation

You burned the city of London in our houses and we felt the flames.

- Archibald MacLeish

City, London, Houses, Flames

The business of the law is to make sense of the confusion of what we call human life - to reduce it to order but at the same time to give it possibility, scope, even dignity.

- Archibald MacLeish

Law, Give, Reduce, Confusion

Democracy is never a thing done. Democracy is always something that a nation must be doing. What is necessary now is one thing and one thing only that democracy become again democracy in action, not democracy accomplished and piled up in goods and gold.

- Archibald MacLeish

Doing, Always, Necessary, Piled

Journalism is concerned with events, poetry with feelings. Journalism is concerned with the look of the world, poetry with the feel of the world.

- Archibald MacLeish

World, Feel, Concerned, Journalism

What is more important in a library than anything else - than everything else - is the fact that it exists.

- Archibald MacLeish

Library, Important, Fact, Everything Else

Journalism wishes to tell what it is that has happened everywhere as though the same things had happened for every man. Poetry wishes to say what it is like for any man to be himself in the presence of a particular occurrence as though only he were alone there.

- Archibald MacLeish

Tell, Had, Every Man, Journalism

A man who lives, not by what he loves but what he hates, is a sick man.

- Archibald MacLeish

Man, Loves, Lives, Sick Man

Once you permit those who are convinced of their own superior rightness to censor and silence and suppress those who hold contrary opinions, just at that moment the citadel has been surrendered.

- Archibald MacLeish

Own, Been, Suppress, Censor

Spring has many American faces. There are cities where it will come and go in a day and counties where it hangs around and never quite gets there. Summer is drawn blinds in Louisiana, long winds in Wyoming, shade of elms and maples in New England.

- Archibald MacLeish

Summer, American, Around, Shade

We have no choice but to be guilty. God is unthinkable if we are innocent.

- Archibald MacLeish

Innocent, Guilty, No Choice, Unthinkable

Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, there is no reason either in football or in poetry why the two should not meet in a man's life if he has the weight and cares about the words.

- Archibald MacLeish

Reason, Cares, About, No Reason

There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience.

- Archibald MacLeish

More, Than, One Thing, Painful

There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream.

- Archibald MacLeish

Mind, Will, Nothing, Liberation

The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.

- Archibald MacLeish

Life, Human Being, Being, Herd

What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice.

- Archibald MacLeish

Freedom, Create, Choose, Alternatives

It is not in the world of ideas that life is lived. Life is lived for better or worse in life, and to a man in life, his life can be no more absurd than it can be the opposite of absurd, whatever that opposite may be.

- Archibald MacLeish

Ideas, More, May, Absurd

Freedom is the right to one's dignity as a man.

- Archibald MacLeish

Freedom, Man, Right, Dignity

We are as great as our belief in human liberty - no greater. And our belief in human liberty is only ours when it is larger than ourselves.

- Archibald MacLeish

Great, Larger, Our, Ours

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