The ancient Greek oral poets all had this anxiety about the deficiencies of their memories and always began poems by praying to the Muse to help them remember.

Quote by David Antin

Topics: David Antin Quotes

The self is an oral society in which the present is constantly running a dialogue...

The self is an oral society in which the present is constantly running a dialogue...

While I don't script and I don't use other performers, I think my taste for...

While I don't script and I don't use other performers, I think my taste for...

I am quite unsatisfied by the distinctions between the oral and literate.

I am quite unsatisfied by the distinctions between the oral and literate.

When I got to the reading all the work, I was reduced to being an...

When I got to the reading all the work, I was reduced to being an...

I didn't think about whether I was writing poems. I was thinking. And the more...

I didn't think about whether I was writing poems. I was thinking. And the more...

I tended to emphasize the secular, the casual, the colloquial, the vernacular against the sacred.

I tended to emphasize the secular, the casual, the colloquial, the vernacular against the sacred.

From this entertainment industry, may the gods of language protect us.

From this entertainment industry, may the gods of language protect us.

I learned enough Hebrew to stagger through a meaningless ceremony that I scarcely remember.

I learned enough Hebrew to stagger through a meaningless ceremony that I scarcely remember.

When you grow up in a family of languages, you develop a kind of casual...

When you grow up in a family of languages, you develop a kind of casual...

I'm standing up thinking. Anybody who wants to listen is welcome. If not, I'm happy...

I'm standing up thinking. Anybody who wants to listen is welcome. If not, I'm happy...

The Sophists' paradoxical talk pieces and their public debates were entertainment in 5th century Greece....

The Sophists' paradoxical talk pieces and their public debates were entertainment in 5th century Greece....

Stories are different every time you tell them - they allow so many possible narratives.

Stories are different every time you tell them - they allow so many possible narratives.

I was trying to find out what it was that everybody else understood without giving...

I was trying to find out what it was that everybody else understood without giving...

I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I...

I wanted to be an inventor, whatever I thought that meant then. I guess I...

I had no idea where these kids at a small private college in the San...

I had no idea where these kids at a small private college in the San...

You pay your money, you take your choice. I get the audience my language attracts...

You pay your money, you take your choice. I get the audience my language attracts...

There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation.

There are editing procedures for talks just as there are editing procedures in jazz improvisation.

Disney made a fortune out of inventing the businessman's idea of the imaginary as the...

Disney made a fortune out of inventing the businessman's idea of the imaginary as the...

My rejection of the idea of entertainment in its current form is based on the...

My rejection of the idea of entertainment in its current form is based on the...

For several centuries what has passed for song in literary circles was any text that...

For several centuries what has passed for song in literary circles was any text that...