Tradition remains alive only when we struggle with it.

Art cannot progress by sticking to what is already familiar.

The demand that poetry be immediately understandable to everyone is truly absurd.

Talent--that is to say, the ability to see the world in a unique way--matures and grows in isolation.

Poetry, in the entire course of its development, has always been trying to capture meanings and problems which are still obscure and dormant. Poetry tries to awaken them with a kiss, wherever they may be: in the air, in things, in human beings.

Environment grinds us, forces us to adjust, and--consciously or not--kills our most precious possession: that something which enables us to speak with ourselves and with God.

The public, regardless of its social origin, likes, above all, that which is easily accessible.