But poets were not considered dangerous and they were advised to exercise self-censorship. At most, poets were requested not to write at all. I took advantage of this negative liberty.

It has often been observed that the repercussion of poetic language on prose language can be considered a decisive cut of a whip.

Many of today's verses are prose and bad prose.

Narrative art, the novel, from Murasaki to Proust, has produced great works of poetry.

There is poetry even in prose, in all the great prose which is not merely utilitarian or didactic: there exist poets who write in prose or at least in more or less apparent prose; millions of poets write verses which have no connection with poetry.

Poetry is the art which is technically within the grasp of everyone: a piece of paper and a pencil and one is ready.

Man cannot produce a single work without the assistance of the slow, assiduous, corrosive worm of thought.