Quotes by Joseph Brodsky

“Poetry is rather an approach to things, to life, than it is typographical production.”

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

“To translate poetry, one has to possess some art, at the very least the art of stylistic re-embodiment.”

“The more one reads poetry, the less tolerant one becomes of any sort of verbosity, be that in political or philosophical discourse, be that in history, social studies or the art of fiction.”

“My idea is simply - is very simple - is that the books of poetry should be published in far greater volume and be distributed in far greater volume, in far more substantial manner. You can sell in ...”

“This assumption that the blue collar crowd is not supposed to read it, or a farmer in his overalls is not to read poetry, seems to be dangerous if not tragic.”

“I am a patriot, but I must say that English poetry is the richest in the world.”

“Poetry is not an art or a branch of art: it's something more.”

“Anyone who regards poetry as an entertainment, as a 'read,' commits an anthropological crime, in the first place against himself.”

“American poetry to me is a sort of relentless, nonstop sermon on human autonomy.”

“Tyranny will make an entire population into readers of poetry.”

“American poetry is this country's greatest patrimony. It takes a stranger to see some things clearly. This is one of them, and I am that stranger.”

“Poetry isn't just different from prose, it's more important for the human species.”

“The charge frequently leveled against poetry - that it is difficult, obscure, hermetic and whatnot - indicates not the state of poetry but, frankly, the rung of the evolutionary ladder on which soc...”

“People who buy 'The National Enquirer' would buy poetry. They should be given a choice. I'm absolutely serious.”

“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. Suffer them if you cant escape t...”

“When hit by boredom, let yourself be crushed by it; submerge, hit bottom. In general, with things unpleasant, the rule is: The sooner you hit bottom, the faster you surface. The idea here is to exa...”

“Try to embrace, or let yourself be embraced by, boredom and anguish, which anyhow are larger than you. No doubt you'll find that bosom smothering, yet try to endure it as long as you can, and then ...”

“In general, dividing literature into prose and poetry began with the appearance of prose, for only in prose could such a division be expressed. By its nature, by its essence, art is hierarchical, a...”

“Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family.”