Quotes By Wislawa Szymborska

I slide my arm from under the sleeper's head and it is numb, full of swarming pins, on the tip of each, waiting to be counted, the fallen angels sit.

Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through.

Unfortunately, poetry is not born in noise, in crowds, or on a bus. There have to be four walls and the certainty that the telephone will not ring. That's what writing is all about.

I've reached the age of self-knowledge, so I don't know anything. People who claim that they know something are responsible for most of the fuss in the world.

Sometimes I write quickly, sometimes I spend several weeks on a single poem. I would really love for readers not to be able to guess which of the poems took so much work!

Is a decision made in advance really any kind of choice.

I'm fighting against the bad poet who is prone to using too many words.

In every tragedy, an element of comedy is preserved. Comedy is just tragedy reversed.

After every war someone has to tidy up.

I started earning a living as a poet rather early on.

I cannot imagine any writer who would not fight for his peace and quiet.

You have to remember all the time that there is a comical side to everything.

When I was young I had a moment of believing in the Communist doctrine. I wanted to save the world through Communism. Quite soon I understood that it doesn't work, but I've never pretended it didn't happen to me.

Even the worst book can give us something to think about.

At the very beginning of my creative life I loved humanity. I wanted to do something good for mankind. Soon I understood that it isn't possible to save mankind.

All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses.

Everyone needs solitude, especially a person who is used to thinking about what she experiences. Solitude is very important in my work as a mode of inspiration, but isolation is not good in this respect. I am not writing poetry about isolation.

Let the people who never find true love keep saying that there's no such thing. Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die.