323 Quotes by Joseph Brodsky

"Still, if it comes to the point where the blue acrylicdappled with cirrus suggests the Lord,say "Give me strength to sustain the hurt,"and learn it by heart like a decent lyric."

"The fact that we are living does not mean we are not sick."

"Man is what he reads."

"Had art indeed depended on experience as much as the critical profession wants us to believe, we'd have far more – and far better – art on our hands than we do. A poet is always the product of his – that is, his nation's – language, to which living experiences are what logs are to fire"

"Of all the parts of your body, be most vigilant over your index finger, for it is blame-thirsty. A pointed finger is a victim’s logo."

"[T]he longer you stay skeptical, doubtful, intellectually uncomfortable, the better it is for you."

"Men canreturn to where they have done evil deeds,but men do not return to where they’ve beenabased. On this point God’s design and ourown feeling of abasement coincideso absolutely that we quit: the night,the rotting beast, the exultant mobs, our homes,our hearthfires, Bacchus in a vacant lotembracing Ariadne in the dark."

"The upper lip is like a groom, to wit:The lower lip is like his fiancee.But that which splits in two will surely splitinto two hundred just as easily.And everything that's been twofold is thenaccountable, is then no longer moot."

"Love is more powerful than separation, butthe latter is more lasting."

"Liberdade é quando você esquece o nome do tirano."