What does this quote mean to you? "All that is literature seeks to communicate power"?

Question

What does this quote mean to you? "All that is literature seeks to communicate power"?

Answer 1

It means that true literature , to those who seek it, will learn the message it is telling, and then gain power. Knowledge is power. Understanding is power.

Answer 2

"All that is literature seeks to communicate power..." --Thomas DeQuincey.

The original quote is: "All that is literature seeks to communicate power; all that is not literature, to communicate knowledge."

It is a romantic quote of a writer who is expressing the idea that literature is a medium that conveys powerful ideas.  Great literature is not just mere story telling.  

For example, Romeo and Juliet is not just a love story.  It is not just the story of some girl and a boy.  It is not the story of two families.  

It is a story about the tragedy of hatred and about how the hate between two families can destroy the lives of people.

On the other hand some lessor stories are just a collection of facts about people and things which may impart some knowledge.