"You must love one another or die."<br /><br />Question: Does religion inform your worldview? <br />Dana Gioia: I was raised very Catholic. I'm still Catholic. And I was raised with the lives of the saints. Every day we would like at the life of a great man or a woman who had somehow, you know, led a good life. And I still . . . And what inspires me still are the people. I mean I meet somebody who has spent 10 years in Africa working in a hospital, and that sh . . . reminds me of, "Well I've gotta lead a better life. I've got to work harder." And so I think it's, you know, we learn from one another.A wonderful line by . . . by _________ that's the . . . one of the . . . it's the climactic stanza of his very famous poem "September 1, 1939". And it goes something like, "All I have is a voice to undo the folded lie, the romantic lie in the brain of the sensual man on the street; then the lie of authority whose buildings grope the sky." And this is the line that I'm going to: <br />"There is no such thing as the state. And no one exists alone. Hunger allows no choice to the citizen or the police. You must love one another or die." <br />And the notion that no one exists alone; that we're part of the human race; that we have these moral, spiritual, ethical obligations to each other; and that we learn from each other. And so what inspires me . . . what inspires me are people who are better than me. And most peopleare better than me, so there's a lot of inspiration around for me. I was raised very Catholic and I still look at things as a Catholic. Which is to say that I have a sense of the complexity and richness of life . . . that there is, in a sense, both the visible world and an invisible world; that the actions that we take have consequences beyond our lives; that we should be morally responsible for our lives. Another thing that Catholicism teaches you is, I think, patience and humility; that we . . . that we are not better than other people. That we have a responsibility to help other people. And the greatest gift of Catholicism, I think, is an openness to grace. That is to have a sense that there are times in your life where a grace that comes from beyond your own life actually pours into your life. It helps you. And so . . . so I think, you know. . . I'm . . . I'm very much of a . . . of a Mediterranean Catholic in that sense. <br />Recorded On: 7/6/07<br /><br />Question: Does religion inform your worldview? <br />Dana Gioia: I was raised very Catholic. I'm still Catholic. And I was raised with the lives of the saints. Every day we would like at the life of a great man or a woman who had somehow, you know, led a good life. And I still . . . And what inspires me still are the people. I mean I meet somebody who has spent 10 years in Africa working in a hospital, and that sh . . . reminds me of, "Well I've gotta lead a better life. I've got to work harder." And so I think it's, you know, we learn from one another.A wonderful line by . . . by _________ that's the . . . one of the . . . it's the climactic stanza of his very famous poem "September 1, 1939". And it goes something like, "All I have is a voice to undo the folded lie, the romantic lie in the brain of the sensual man on the street; then the lie of authority whose buildings grope the sky." And this is the line that I'm going to: <br />"There is no such thing as the state. And no one exists alone. Hunger allows no choice to the citizen or the police. You must love one another or die." <br />And the notion that no one exists alone; that we're part of the human race; that we have these moral, spiritual, ethical obligations to each other; and that we learn from each other. And so what inspires me . . . what inspires me are people who are better than me. And most peopleare better than me, so there's a lot of inspiration around for me. I was raised very Catholic and I still look at things as a Catholic. Which is to say that I have a sense of the complexity and richness of life . . . that there is, in a sense, both the visible world and an invisible world; that the actions that we take have consequences beyond our lives; that we should be morally responsible for our lives. Another thing that Catholicism teaches you is, I think, patience and humility; that we . . . that we are not better than other people. That we have a responsibility to help other people. And the greatest gift of Catholicism, I think, is an openness to grace. That is to have a sense that there are times in your life where a grace that comes from beyond your own life actually pours into your life. It helps you. And so . . . so I think, you know. . . I'm . . . I'm very much of a . . . of a Mediterranean Catholic in that sense. <br />Recorded On: 7/6/07
