Elliot

T.S Elliot said that no thought is original, but a reflection of tradition and learned ideas. He also said that we cannot value a poet or artist without comparing/contrasting them with other poets and artists.  Without the others, how are we to have any sort of reaction to a piece?  It is in this aspect that an artist collects ideas and meanings and measurements in order to create his seemingly original idea.  But, in all actuality, it is just another representation of what has come before him, even if it is a completely "new" idea.  T.S Elliot goes on to say that our [the reader's] minds are always changing from day to day and year to year; this connects to the depersonalization of the author because it doesn't matter what he meant his work to mean-the reader's perception defines the work not the author.  It is because of the changing minds of the readers that can kind of separate an author from his work because, even though the author wrote the piece, the meaning of the piece may be interpreted differently throughout the ages due to the changing minds of its audience.