“We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race”

Jan 13, 2014 07:46 GMT  ·  By

Apple has started airing a new advertisement promoting the iPad Air’s endless benefits using a Robin Williams quote from the 1989 film Dead Poets Society.

Directed by Peter Weir, Dead Poets Society (1989) portrays English teacher John Keating as an inspiring tutor whose aim is to make his students love poetry and seize the day.

Apple feels that Keating (played by Robin Williams) captures the essence of what the iPad stands for in the quote transcripted below (courtesy of Re/Code).

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering — these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love — these are what we stay alive for.

To quote from Whitman,

“O me, O life of the questions of these recurring. Of the endless trains of the faithless. Of cities filled with the foolish. What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer: that you are here. That life exists and identity. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

What will your verse be?