Jump to content

Quote of the Day: Ezra Pound


Inspiration Bot

Recommended Posts

8 hours ago, Inspiration Bot said:

"Either move or be moved."

View the full article

Aren't we all moving regardless?  Sure, maybe it's relative, but I'm pretty sure we understood in his lifetime the Earth moving around the Sun and the Sun moving through the galaxy and the galaxies moving around the universe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Aren't we all moving regardless?  Sure, maybe it's relative, but I'm pretty sure we understood in his lifetime the Earth moving around the Sun and the Sun moving through the galaxy and the galaxies moving around the universe.

There you go. If you stand completely still (relatively speaking), you are being moved...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Inspiration Bot said:

"Either move or be moved."

View the full article

Sounds like the book we 142 teachers were ask to read called "Who moved the cheese," whose premise is that progress requires being open to changes.  The purpose was to brainwash us into thinking that the changes in the school system, lowering standards, was a good thing simply because it was a change!

Of course, we responded that changes have included the Nazis coming to power in Germany, the Japanese Rape of Nanjing, the formation of the Confederacy, and letting Roseanne sing the National Anthem.

In a lot of cases, it's better to not be moved an inch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ezra Pound went to Italy during WWII and broadcast a number of radio speeches called 'Ezra Pound Speaking'.

Here's an excerpt from his "Freedumb Forum' broadcast July 12, 1942

image.png.177940816275c00b47fe87f50ab05bdd.png

'Ezra Pound Speaking' Broadcasts

I would suggest he's not the sort of person who is worthy of appearing in the brainyquote "quote of the day".  Please understand I make no reflection on SW - he doesn't control what brainyquote puts out, and I did have to do a little bit of digging to find a direct quote regarding Pound's anti-Semitism.  It appears people would much rather talk about his poetry.  Accounts vary whether he eventually realized anti-Semitism was wrong, but that is an investigation for another evening.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Ezra Pound went to Italy during WWII and broadcast a number of radio speeches called 'Ezra Pound Speaking'.

Here's an excerpt from his "Freedumb Forum' broadcast July 12, 1942

image.png.177940816275c00b47fe87f50ab05bdd.png

'Ezra Pound Speaking' Broadcasts

I would suggest he's not the sort of person who is worthy of appearing in the brainyquote "quote of the day".  Please understand I make no reflection on SW - he doesn't control what brainyquote puts out, and I did have to do a little bit of digging to find a direct quote regarding Pound's anti-Semitism.  It appears people would much rather talk about his poetry.  Accounts vary whether he eventually realized anti-Semitism was wrong, but that is an investigation for another evening.

 

Wow - IB swung and missed on this one!  Besides the general dopeyness of the quotes - the IB one and yours from the broadcast - it looks like folks back then, thought and behaved differently back then :(  Or maybe they didn't? :( :( :angry:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Ezra Pound went to Italy during WWII and broadcast a number of radio speeches called 'Ezra Pound Speaking'.

Here's an excerpt from his "Freedumb Forum' broadcast July 12, 1942

image.png.177940816275c00b47fe87f50ab05bdd.png

'Ezra Pound Speaking' Broadcasts

I would suggest he's not the sort of person who is worthy of appearing in the brainyquote "quote of the day".  Please understand I make no reflection on SW - he doesn't control what brainyquote puts out, and I did have to do a little bit of digging to find a direct quote regarding Pound's anti-Semitism.  It appears people would much rather talk about his poetry.  Accounts vary whether he eventually realized anti-Semitism was wrong, but that is an investigation for another evening.

 

After reading some of his biography, I’d say Ezra was ‘moved’ several times over ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

I would suggest he's not the sort of person who is worthy of appearing in the brainyquote "quote of the day".  Please understand I make no reflection on SW - he doesn't control what brainyquote puts out, and I did have to do a little bit of digging to find a direct quote regarding Pound's anti-Semitism.  It appears people would much rather talk about his poetry.  Accounts vary whether he eventually realized anti-Semitism was wrong, but that is an investigation for another evening.

And yet we still buy Henry's Fords...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

...and Dr Seuss at my local library!

 

 

 

 

Too soon?

No.  I was raised on the good doctor's prose - One Fish, Two Fish..... and all that.

We have our collection of Dr. Seuss books upstairs in the spare bedroom for the grandkids.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

No.  I was raised on the good doctor's prose - One Fish, Two Fish..... and all that.

We have our collection of Dr. Seuss books upstairs in the spare bedroom for the grandkids.

Maybe "good" no longer applies? Or is he given a pass for old timey thinking and behavior, but Ezra - a near contemporary - shouldn't?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Maybe "good" no longer applies? Or is he given a pass for old timey thinking and behavior, but Ezra - a near contemporary - shouldn't?

How in the heck do I know?  Ask someone who's woke like RG or RoadSue.  If they show up for a book burning at Casa Kzoo there will be trouble.

  • Hugs 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

it looks like folks back then, thought and behaved differently back then

Of course, and that insight applies as far back in history as you'd like to take it.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem with much we see today when judgment is passed upon a person.

When making that judgment, it is important to place the behavior of the person in the context of their times.  Too often the person's behavior is judged against the standards and morals of our time, and often judged against standards and morals that not even many people in our time hold themselves.

And so, to return to Ezra Pound, how to evaluate his behavior when in his time anti-Semitism was far more common - and more widely accepted - than today?  I would not condone such behavior, but by placing him in his proper time I can better understand why he felt comfortable making such statements even to the extent of broadcasting them through a radio program.

However...

If a site is going to hold out Ezra Pound as a source of inspirational quotes, I would suggest it should also represent the full range of his character. 

This too, would apply to any great or historical figure you may choose.  People who achieved fame or in their places in history had flaws - every one of them.  It's important to see these flaws the same way it is to see their greatness by placing them in context with their their times - and not ours.  By discovering and understanding their respective flaws, then it's possible to add depth to their characters, and better understand why we revere them (or at least remember them) for their greatness.

  • Awesome 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Of course, and that insight applies as far back in history as you'd like to take it.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem with much we see today when judgment is passed upon a person.

When making that judgment, it is important to place the behavior of the person in the context of their times.  Too often the person's behavior is judged against the standards and morals of our time, and often judged against standards and morals that not even many people in our time hold themselves.

And so, to return to Ezra Pound, how to evaluate his behavior when in his time anti-Semitism was far more common - and more widely accepted - than today?  I would not condone such behavior, but by placing him in his proper time I can better understand why he felt comfortable making such statements even to the extent of broadcasting them through a radio program.

However...

If a site is going to hold out Ezra Pound as a source of inspirational quotes, I would suggest it should also represent the full range of his character. 

This too, would apply to any great or historical figure you may choose.  People who achieved fame or in their places in history had flaws - every one of them.  It's important to see these flaws the same way it is to see their greatness by placing them in context with their their times - and not ours.  By discovering and understanding their respective flaws, then it's possible to add depth to their characters, and better understand why we revere them (or at least remember them) for their greatness.

Pfffft

It's easier to be woke and just cancel them.  Burn those books.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Of course, and that insight applies as far back in history as you'd like to take it.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem with much we see today when judgment is passed upon a person.

When making that judgment, it is important to place the behavior of the person in the context of their times.  Too often the person's behavior is judged against the standards and morals of our time, and often judged against standards and morals that not even many people in our time hold themselves.

And so, to return to Ezra Pound, how to evaluate his behavior when in his time anti-Semitism was far more common - and more widely accepted - than today?  I would not condone such behavior, but by placing him in his proper time I can better understand why he felt comfortable making such statements even to the extent of broadcasting them through a radio program.

However...

If a site is going to hold out Ezra Pound as a source of inspirational quotes, I would suggest it should also represent the full range of his character. 

This too, would apply to any great or historical figure you may choose.  People who achieved fame or in their places in history had flaws - every one of them.  It's important to see these flaws the same way it is to see their greatness by placing them in context with their their times - and not ours.  By discovering and understanding their respective flaws, then it's possible to add depth to their characters, and better understand why we revere them (or at least remember them) for their greatness.

Well spoken, TK.  I appreciate your level and reasoned insight.

Peace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Pfffft

It's easier to be woke and just cancel them.  Burn those books.

Poetry is always best burned.  Better safe than sorry!

16 minutes ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Of course, and that insight applies as far back in history as you'd like to take it.

That, in a nutshell, is the problem with much we see today when judgment is passed upon a person.

"Today", "yesterday", "tomorrow".  It will ever be the challenges we wrestle with and to think the outrages of today or the outrage at the outrage is any different is just blowing smoke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...