Joseph Brodsky

Poetry seems to be the only weapon able to beat language, using language's own means.

Once I stop being a citizen of the U.S.S.R., I will not stop being a Russian poet.

Prose is admittedly an art rooted in social intercourse, and a fiction writer is faster to find a common denominator with his cell mates than a poet is.

One belongs to one's language as a writer.

For darkness restores what light cannot repair.

On the whole, love comes with the speed of light; separation, with that of sound.

What should I say about life? That it's long and abhors transparence.

Who included me among the ranks of the human race?