Joseph Brodsky
Joseph Brodsky
Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth24 May 1940
CountryUnited States of America
memory substitute
If there is any substitute for love, it is memory
files ifs
Every life has a file, if you will.
despair form snobbery
Snobbery? But it's only a form of despair.
uprising glowing firsts
This is the generation whose first cry of life was the Hungarian uprising.
infinity objects
An object, after all, is what makes infinity private.
infinity poetic creeds
The poetic notion of infinity is far greater than that which is sponsored by any creed.
empires born ifs
If one's fated to be born in Caesar's Empire, let him live aloof, provincial, by the seashore...
life-lesson blessing boredom
For boredom speaks the language of time, and it is to teach you the most valuable lesson of your life - the lesson of your utter insignificance.
russia use interest
What's happening in Russia is devoid of autobiographical interest for me. Maybe it's egocentric. Whatever it is, feel free to use it.
finding-yourself trying ridiculous
I'm not trying to be ridiculous or funny, but it was rather pleasant to find yourself in isolation, in solitary.
imaginary-friend imaginary
All the literati keep at least one imaginary friend.
boredom trying infinity
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.
explaining conversation dislike
Out of Dostoevsky: Kafka. Out of Tolstoy: Margaret Mitchell. (in conversation, explaining his dislike for Tolstoy)
mustache east green
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.