The idea that eroticism and spirituality should be separate… - Alicia Ostriker

" "
The idea that eroticism and spirituality should be separated is a travesty of both. Read the Song of Songs, a poem which is utterly erotic and utterly spiritual. Or read the great Persian poet Rumi. Or the Hindu Mirabai. All mystical poetry is erotic, uses erotic language, because it desires fusion with God. This is true of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu devotional writing. And all lovers see the beloved’s face and body as divine.

Alicia Ostriker

Sources available for members. Sign up free to see where this quote comes from

English

Collect this quote

About Alicia Ostriker

Alicia Suskin Ostriker (born November 11, 1937) is an poet and scholar who is Jewish and lives in the USA.

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Alicia Suskin Ostriker

All quotes from Alicia Ostriker Similar Quotes by other Originators

Originators like Alicia Ostriker:

Adrienne Rich Muriel Rukeyser Dana Gioia Vernon Scannell Marilyn Chin

Additional quotes by Alicia Ostriker

I love the way a poem moves me from what I already know, into the unknown-how exploratory it can be. How, when something confuses or disturbs me, I can come to understand it through the act of writing.

To tell all the truth and tell it straight has become the program of most women poets. The truth is mysterious enough, and we are ignorant enough of it, so that lives may be well spent in its quest.

I came of age, metaphorically, in the '60's, and have tried to retain the ideals of that period: the hope that we could have a more loving, wise and compassionate world if we would work at it. My feminism, like many others', was born in this period.

The idea that eroticism and spirituality should be separated is a travesty of both. Read the Song of Songs, a poem which is utterly erotic and utterl… - Alicia Ostriker

About Alicia Ostriker

Also Known As

Advanced Search Filters

Additional quotes by Alicia Ostriker

Enhance Your Quote Experience