Because civilizations are finite, in the life of each of them there comes a moment when the center ceases to hold. What keeps them at such times from disintegration is not legions but language.

The real biographies of poets are like those of birds, almost identical - their data are in the way they sound. A poet's biography lies in his twists of language, in his meters, rhymes, and metaphors.

Contrary to popular belief, the outskirts are not where the world ends - they are precisely where it begins to unfurl.

Joseph Brodsky Quotes