Out of Dostoevsky: Kafka. Out of Tolstoy: Margaret Mitchell. (in conversation, explaining his dislike for Tolstoy) Joseph Brodsky More Quotes by Joseph Brodsky More Quotes From Joseph Brodsky For a writer only one form of patriotism exists: his attitude toward language. Joseph Brodsky patriotism language attitude The eye identifies itself not with the body it belongs to but with the object of its attention. Joseph Brodsky body eye attention On the whole, love comes with the speed of light; separation, with that of sound. Joseph Brodsky light sound love I always adhered to the idea that God is time, or at least that His spirit is. Joseph Brodsky spirit god ideas I had this fantasy of becoming a neurosurgeon. You know, the normal Jewish boy fantasy, but I wanted to be a neurosurgeon for some reason. So I started in this unpleasant way. I was an assistant to the coroner, opening up corpses, taking the innards out, opening skulls, taking the brains out. Joseph Brodsky opening-up skulls boys I was quite happy in Arkhangelsk.Subsequently, I was sent to a village. I liked it in its own way because it sounded to me very much like the tradition of a hired man in any world-class poem. That's what I was, a hired man. I was working for a collective farm. Joseph Brodsky class men world Perhaps the best proof of the Almighty's existence is that we never know when we are to die. Joseph Brodsky proof almighty death If a poet has any obligation toward society, it is to write well. Being in the minority, he has no other choice. Failing this duty, he sinks into oblivion. Society, on the other hand, has no obligation toward the poet. A majority by definition, society thinks of itself as having other options than reading verses, no matter how well written. Its failure to do so results in its sinking to that level of locution at which society falls easy prey to a demagogue or a tyrant. This is society's own equivalent of oblivion. Joseph Brodsky reading writing fall If I can get somewhere, I'm all right. If not, I'm miserable. Joseph Brodsky miserable i-can ifs In the end, like the Almighty Himself, we make everything in our image, for want of a more reliable model; our artifacts tell more about ourselves than our confessions. Joseph Brodsky confession almighty want No matter under what circumstances you leave it, home does not cease to be home. No matter how you lived there - well or poorly. Joseph Brodsky matter doe home Every life has a file, if you will. Joseph Brodsky files ifs As long as the state permits itself to interfere in the affairs of literature, literature has the right to interfere with the affairs of state. Joseph Brodsky affair literature long What concerns me is that man, unable to articulate, to express himself adequately, reverts to action. Since the vocabulary of action is limited, as it were, to his body, he is bound to act violently, extending his vocabulary with a weapon where there should have been an adjective. Joseph Brodsky vocabulary should-have men After all, it is hard to master both life and work equally well. So if you are bound to fake one of them, it had better be life. Joseph Brodsky life-is-hard fake-people masters In general, with things unpleasant, the rule is: The sooner you hit bottom, the faster you surface. Joseph Brodsky surface bottom faster Perhaps art is simply an organism's reaction against its retentive limitations. Joseph Brodsky organisms reactions art At certain periods of history it is only poetry that is capable of dealing with reality by condensing it into something graspable, something that otherwise wouldn't be retained by the mind. Joseph Brodsky periods mind reality Man is what he reads. Joseph Brodsky inspiration education book Because every book of art, be it a poem or a cupola, is understandably a self-portrait of its author, we won't strain ourselves too hard trying to distinguish between the author's persona and the poem's lyrical hero. As a rule, such distinctions are quite meaningless, if only because a lyrical hero is invariably an author's self-projection. Joseph Brodsky hero book art
