Every individual ought to know at least one poet from cover to cover: if not as a guide through the world, then as a yardstick for the language.
Interpretation
We should all familiarize ourselves with poetry to enrich our understanding of the world and language.
Joseph Brodsky emphasizes the importance of poetry in our lives, suggesting that knowing a poet's work intimately can offer guidance in navigating our experiences and help us appreciate the nuances of language. Poetry serves not only as an artistic expression but also as a tool to measure the complexity and beauty of words in our everyday lives.
In practice
In a speech about education, one could say, 'As Joseph Brodsky stated, every individual ought to know at least one poet, emphasizing the role of poetry in our learning journey.'
Basically, it's hard for me to assess myself, a hardship not only prompted by the immodesty of the enterprise, but because one is not capable of assessing himself, let alone his work. However, if I were to summarize, my main interest is the nature of time. That's what interests me most of all. What time can do to a man.
One always pulls the trigger out of self-interest and quotes history to avoid responsibility or pangs of conscience.
On the whole, infinity is a fairly palpable aspect of this business of publishing, if only because it extends a dead author's existence beyond the limits he envisioned, or provides a living author with a future he cannot measure. In other words, this business deals with the future which we all prefer to regard as unending.
The invention of ethical and political doctrines, which blossomed into our own social sciences, is a product of times when things appeared manageable. The same goes for the criticism of those doctrines, though as a voice from the past, this criticism proved prophetic.
Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you. There will be a lot of those - in the official capacity as well as the self-appointed.
To put it in plain language, Russia is that country where the name of a writer appears not on the cover of his book, but on the door of his prison cell.
All novels are sequels; influence is bliss.
People ask me if there are going to be stories of Harry Potter as an adult. Frankly, if I wanted to, I could keep writing stories until Harry is a senior citizen, but I don't know how many people would actually want to read about a 65 year old Harry still at Hogwarts playing bingo with Ron and Hermione.
The problem with literature, with writing, is that it works sometimes in terms of correction of social ills. Other times, it just does not suffice.
A novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details that take us in the direction of the unsaid and unseen.
I defy anyone to finish Halldor Laxness's 'Independent People' without wetting the pages with tears.
It's extraordinary how many people read a book that's new and weird and befriend it.
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