The government, the state, they're just objects of jokes rather than serious consideration. I can't possibly take them seriously.
Joseph BrodskyI don't want to dive into that mud slide, which is what I consider the literary process.
Joseph BrodskyLiterature sort of makes your daily operation, your daily conduct, the management of your affairs in the society a bit more complex. And it puts what you do in perspective, and people don't like to see themselves or their activities in perspective. They don't feel quite comfortable with that. Nobody wants to acknowledge the insignificance of his life, and that is very often the net result of reading a poem.
Joseph Brodsky