Quote

Tragedy, as you know, is always a fait accompli, whereas terror always has to do with anticipation, with man's recognition of hisown negative potential--with his sense of what he is capable of.

Joseph Brodsky

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Joseph Brodsky
Age: 55 †
Born: 1940
Born: May 24
Died: 1996
Died: January 25
Author
Dramaturge
Essayist
Playwright
Poet
Translator
Writer
St. Petersburg
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky
Men
Recognition
Potential
Terror
Tragedy
Negative
Accompli
Capable
Fait
Sense
Anticipation
Always
Whereas

More quotes by Joseph Brodsky

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The government, the state, they're just objects of jokes rather than serious consideration. I can't possibly take them seriously.
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I don't want to dive into that mud slide, which is what I consider the literary process.
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A language is a more ancient and inevitable thing than any state.
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If there is anything good about exile, it is that it teaches one humility. It accelerates one’s drift into isolation, an absolute perspective. Into the condition at which all one is left with is oneself and one’s language, with nobody or nothing in between. Exile brings you overnight where it would normally take a lifetime to go.
Joseph Brodsky
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The Constitution doesn't mention rain.
Joseph Brodsky
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Every life has a file, if you will.
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The fact that we are living does not mean we are not sick.
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The delirium and horror of the East. The dusty catastrophe of Asia. Green only on the banner of the Prophet. Nothing grows here except mustaches.
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After having exhausted all the arguments on behalf of evil, one utters the creed's dictums with nostalgia rather than with fervor.
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I didn't want to be either the cre`me de la cre`me or a martyr. I'd rather be a novelty, especially in a democracy that doesn't understand the language I write in.
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What I like about cities is that everything is king size, the beauty and the ugliness.
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I sit in the dark. And it would be hard to figure out which is worse the dark inside, or the darkness out.
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Boredom is your window on the properties of time that one tends to ignore to the likely peril of one's mental equilibrium. It is your window on time's infinity. Once this window opens, don't try to shut it on the contrary, throw it wide open.
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It would be enough for me to have the system of a jury of twelve versus the system of one judge as a basis for preferring the U.S. to the Soviet Union. I would prefer the country you can leave to the country you cannot.
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I don't have principles. I have nerves.
Joseph Brodsky
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Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family. Even your super weirdo creep cousin.
Joseph Brodsky
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On the whole, love comes with the speed of light separation, with that of sound.
Joseph Brodsky
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Who included me among the ranks of the human race?
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Perhaps the best proof of the Almighty's existence is that we never know when we are to die.
Joseph Brodsky
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In general, with things unpleasant, the rule is: The sooner you hit bottom, the faster you surface.
Joseph Brodsky