Quote

Poorly prepared for the dignity of life, I barely keep up with the pace of the action imposed. Reality demands.

Wislawa Szymborska

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Wislawa Szymborska
Age: 88 †
Born: 1923
Born: July 2
Died: 2012
Died: February 1
Critic
Essayist
Literary Critic
Mechanic
Poet
Translator
Writer
Kornik
Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska
Szymborska
Life
Pace
Demands
Dignity
Prepared
Demand
Action
Poorly
Keep
Imposed
Reality
Barely

More quotes by Wislawa Szymborska

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What does the world get from two people/who exist in a world of their own?
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Something doesn't start at its usual time. Something doesn't happen as it should. Someone was always, always here, then suddenly disappeared and stubbornly stays disappeared.
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In the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone's existence in this world.
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I cannot speak for more than an hour exclusively about poetry. At that point, life itself takes over again.
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Nothing's a gift, it's all on loan
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Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die.
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Animals don't even try to look any different from what nature intended. They humbly wear their shells, scales, spines, plumes, pelts, and down. ... The conscious impulse to change one's appearance is found only among humans.
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I'm old-fashioned and think that reading books is the most glorious pastime that humankind has yet devised.
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We're extremely fortunate not to know precisely the kind of world we live in. One would have to live a long, long time, unquestionably longer than the world itself.
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Even the worst book can give us something to think about.
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The joy of writing. The power of preserving. Revenge of a mortal hand.
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I'm working on the world, revised, improved edition, featuring fun for fools blues for brooders, combs for bald pates, tricks for old dogs.
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Nothing can ever happen twice. In consequence, the sorry fact is that we arrive here improvised and leave without the chance to practice.
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At the very beginning of my creative life I loved humanity. I wanted to do something good for mankind. Soon I understood that it isn't possible to save mankind.
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Loveless work, boring work, work valued only because others haven't got even that much, however loveless and boring - this is one of the harshest human miseries.
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In every tragedy, an element of comedy is preserved. Comedy is just tragedy reversed.
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And whatever I do will become forever what I've done.
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Secret codes resound. Doubts and intentions come to light.
Wislawa Szymborska
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Whether you want it or not, your genes have a political past, your skin a political tone. your eyes a political color. ... you walk with political steps on political ground.
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When I mention somebody, that doesn't necessarily mean that I identify with him, personally or poetically. I'm extremely happy when I encounter poets who are different than I am. The ones who have their own distinct poetics provide me with the greatest experiences.
Wislawa Szymborska