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Quietism

Philosophy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Quietism is a stance of passive acceptance, withdrawal from action, or surrender to divine will, often in spiritual contexts.

Detailed Definition
Poetry expresses quietism through stillness, silence, or minimalism—resisting the imperative to act or speak. Mystical or contemplative verse may embrace it as a form of resistance to noise, productivity, or ego-driven striving.
Example
Example in poetry:
George Herbert’s devotional poems practice quietism through surrender to divine will; W.S. Merwin’s later work embraces silence and non-action as poetic stance; Zen-influenced poets like Jane Hirshfield use quietism to cultivate attention without interference; Rainer Maria Rilke’s "Duino Elegies" advise "letting the beauty of what we love be its own defense"; quietism appears in Emily Dickinson’s reclusive focus on interiority over public voice.
Additional Notes
Quietism (Christian mysticism, Taoism) advocates surrender over action; poetic quietism appears in stillness (Merwin), emptiness (haiku), or listening (Oliver); students should distinguish passive withdrawal from active receptivity—where non-doing becomes a radical stance against productivity, noise, or ego-driven striving.
Also Known As
Passivism Mystical Quietism Contemplative Withdrawal
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