If One's Fated To Be Born In

It's Partly The Fault Of The Institutions Of Education. But It's Partly The Decision To Be Relieved Of Responsibility. Literature Is Simply The Most Focused Form Of The Demands On The Evolution Of The Species. It Imposes A Certain Responsibility, Moral, Ethical And Esthetic Responsibility, And The Species Simply Doesn't Want To Oblige.

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.

Life—the Way It Really Is—is A Battle Not Between Good And Bad, But Between Bad And Worse

Were We To Choose Our Leaders On The Basis Of Their Reading Experience And Not Their Political Programs, There Would Be Much Less Grief On Earth. I Believe ... That For Someone Who Has Read A Lot Of Dickens To Shoot His Like In The Name Of An Idea Is Harder Than For Someone Who Has Read No Dickens.

Poetry Is What Is Gained In Translation.