Wislawa Szymborska Quotes & Sayings (Page 4)

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

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

“'There's nothing new under the sun': that's what you wrote, Ecclesiastes. But you yourself were born new under the sun.”

“Though I may deny poets their monopoly on inspiration, I still place them in a select group of Fortune's darlings.”

“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 don't believe I have a mission. Sometimes I really have a spiritual need to say something more general about the world, and sometimes something personal.”

“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!”

“This terrifying world is not devoid of charms, of the mornings that make waking up worthwhile.”

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

“I cannot speak for more than an hour exclusively about poetry. At that point, life itself takes over again.”