Wislawa Szymborska Quotes

You know, I’m worried about Szymborska. I wish she would stop smoking.

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.

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.

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

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

There’s simply too much fuss about myself.