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T.S. Eliot, from Anatomy of Inspiration

An excerpt from an excerpt:

"To me it seems that at these moments, which are characterised by the sudden lifting of the burden of anxiety and fear which presses upon our daily life so steadily that we are unaware of it, what happens is something negative: that is to say, not ‘inspiration’ as we commonly think of it, but the breaking down of strong habitual barriers — which tend to re-form very quickly. Some obstruction is momentarily whisked away. The accompanying feeling is less like what we know as positive pleasure, than a sudden relief from an intolerable burden."

 T. S. Eliot, from The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism, cited in Anatomy of Inspiration

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