Joseph Brodsky Quotes
The charge frequently leveled against poetry - that it is difficult, obscure, hermetic and whatnot - indicates not the state of poetry but, frankly, the rung of the evolutionary ladder on which society is stuck.
Quotes to Explore
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Every now and then I read a poem that does touch something in me, but I never turn to poetry for solace or pleasure in the way that I throw myself into prose.
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If you ask an economist what's driven economic growth, it's been major advances in things that mattered - the mechanization of farming, mass manufacturing, things like that. The problem is, our society is not organized around doing that.
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A society of 'children first' is a society that nurtures smiling faces in everyone.
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I want to prove that if you write in strict meter and rhyme about subjects people care about, they will buy poetry.
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If poetry should address itself to the same needs and aspirations, the same hopes and fears, to which the Bible addresses itself, it might rival it in distribution.
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When we talk of freedom and opportunity for all nations, the mocking paradoxes in our own society become so clear they can no longer be ignored.
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Artists are political in the sense that they've subtracted themselves from the structure of the marketplace and are contributing something that's not utilitarian. Even though books get sold, and I get advances, I get to look at society and think for a living.
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Rising anti-Semitism is rarely the lone or the last expression of intolerance in a society.
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What 'Deadwood' did was to talk about how capitalism started, how civilised society came in, and how that brought its own problems.
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I think the ideology of the Congress is closest to mine. Congress is a party where I should be. I have joined politics to bring change in society. The Congress gave me a chance with the Aadhaar project. It's a party that will allow me to bring change.
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I think that one possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our intellectuals can't read any poetry.
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As governor, I will always be willing to work with people who have ideas to offer and are ready to roll up their sleeves. That kind of teamwork will build a New Hampshire that will lead the nation and compete with the world. Together, we will help our businesses grow and build a stronger economy on a vision of innovation and growth.
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When we came to Iraq, we didn't understand the complexity - what it meant for a society to live under a brutal dictatorship with ethnic and sectarian divisions. When we first got here, we made a lot of mistakes. We were like a blind man, trying to do the right thing but breaking a lot of things.
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Modern society has evolved to the point where we counter the old-fashioned fatalism surrounding the word 'cancer' by embracing the idea of the Uber-mind - that our will possesses nearly supernatural powers.
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Do-gooders are easily overlooked. We're supposed to be soft, touchy-feely types, who wear Birkenstocks, compost everything, and write poetry by candlelight.
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Terror will crash down on us if we fail to understand that a pluralistic society requires the personal and daily commitment of every citizen.
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I was a science fiction geek. That lets you know that they come in all sizes and styles, right?
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Infant mortality and life expectancy are reasonable indicators of general well-being in a society.
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Poetry begins where language starts: in the shadows and accidents of one person's life.
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I want people to see what's inside my head rather than just looking at me.
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Yes, my mother was a singer, and my father played piano and keyboards. They were in a band together, though they also had regular jobs because they had kids and stuff like that.
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I've never seen the Osbournes, I've never seen Paris Hilton. I'd rather read than watch reality TV. I'd rather live life than watch somebody else living it.
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As Americans, we rightfully place tremendous value on having a free and independent press. Our role as journalists is to give voice to the voiceless, and hold our leaders and institutions accountable. But the circle is only completed when that information is consumed by a free-thinking and engaged audience.
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The charge frequently leveled against poetry - that it is difficult, obscure, hermetic and whatnot - indicates not the state of poetry but, frankly, the rung of the evolutionary ladder on which society is stuck.
