# Joseph Brodsky's most famous lines and quotes

"To Vasilievsky Island I will come to die", "If you happen to be born in an Empire…" and freedom as forgetting the tyrant's patronymic: the most quoted lines and sayings of Joseph Brodsky, with their source.

- 236 votes · 13 items
- Jun 20, 2024 · Мария Макарова
- https://even.best/en/l/5047/joseph-brodsky-s-most-famous-lines-and-quotes

## Top 13

1. **I want to choose neither country nor graveyard. To Vasilievsky Island I will come to die.** (24 · ▲26 ▼2) — Poem "Stanzas".
2. **If you happen to be born in an Empire, it is best to live in a remote province by the sea.** (22 · ▲23 ▼1) — Poem "Letters to a Roman Friend" (1972).
3. **Freedom is when you forget the tyrant's patronymic.** (16 · ▲20 ▼4) — Poem "I am not exactly going mad, but this summer has worn me out…".
4. **Looking back is a more rewarding occupation than looking forward.** (16 · ▲19 ▼3) — Essay "Less Than One" (1976).
5. **It is windy today, and the waves come crashing over. Autumn is coming; everything around will change.** (14 · ▲16 ▼2) — Poem "Letters to a Roman Friend" (1972).
6. **Every grave is the edge of the earth.** (14 · ▲16 ▼2) — Poem "Verses on the Death of T. S. Eliot".
7. **And so we have lived more than half. As an old slave told me outside the tavern: "Looking back, we see only ruins."** (11 · ▲15 ▼4) — Poem "Letters to a Roman Friend" (1972).
8. **God is organic. Yes. And man? Man, presumably, is limited.** (11 · ▲14 ▼3) — Poem "Two Hours in a Reservoir".
9. **Farewell, forget me, and do not judge. And burn the letters, like a bridge.** (11 · ▲13 ▼2) — Poem "Farewell, forget…".
10. **The century will soon be over, but I will be over sooner.** (10 · ▲13 ▼3) — Poem "Fin de siècle".
11. **But until they stuff my mouth with clay, only gratitude will come out of it.** (7 · ▲10 ▼3) — Poem "I entered a cage instead of a wild beast…".
12. **We part forever, my friend. Draw a simple circle on paper. That will be me: nothing inside.** (6 · ▲10 ▼4) — Poem "It is not the Muse who keeps her mouth shut…".
13. **The world probably can no longer be saved, but an individual person always can.** (2 · ▲5 ▼3) — Nobel lecture (1987).

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.