Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree. – Ezra Pound
Music begins to atrophy when it departs too far from the dance… poetry begins to atrophy when it gets too far from music. – Ezra Pound
Gloom and solemnity are entirely out of place in even the most rigorous study of an art originally intended to make glad the heart of man. – Ezra Pound
Music rots when it gets too far from the dance. Poetry atrophies when it gets too far from music. – Ezra Pound
The extent of a palace is measured from east to west, or from north to south; but that of a literary work, from the earth to heaven; so that there may be found as much range and power of mind in a few pages… as in a whole epic poem. – Joseph Joubert (1754–1824), translated from French by George H. Calvert, 1