Joseph Brodsky's most famous lines and quotes
The top 3 according to 236 votes from people: I want to choose neither country nor graveyard. To Vasilievsky Island I will come to die. · If you happen to be born in an Empire, it is best to live in a remote province by the sea. · Freedom is when you forget the tyrant's patronymic.. (Updated Jun 20, 2024.)
"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.
Automatically translated (original in Русский). See the original
Top 13
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1
I want to choose neither country nor graveyard. To Vasilievsky Island I will come to die.
Poem "Stanzas".
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2
If you happen to be born in an Empire, it is best to live in a remote province by the sea.
Poem "Letters to a Roman Friend" (1972).
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3
Freedom is when you forget the tyrant's patronymic.
Poem "I am not exactly going mad, but this summer has worn me out…".
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4
Looking back is a more rewarding occupation than looking forward.
Essay "Less Than One" (1976).
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5
It is windy today, and the waves come crashing over. Autumn is coming; everything around will change.
Poem "Letters to a Roman Friend" (1972).
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6
Every grave is the edge of the earth.
Poem "Verses on the Death of T. S. Eliot".
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7
And so we have lived more than half. As an old slave told me outside the tavern: "Looking back, we see only ruins."
Poem "Letters to a Roman Friend" (1972).
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8
God is organic. Yes. And man? Man, presumably, is limited.
Poem "Two Hours in a Reservoir".
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9
Farewell, forget me, and do not judge. And burn the letters, like a bridge.
Poem "Farewell, forget…".
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10
The century will soon be over, but I will be over sooner.
Poem "Fin de siècle".
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11
But until they stuff my mouth with clay, only gratitude will come out of it.
Poem "I entered a cage instead of a wild beast…".
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12
We part forever, my friend. Draw a simple circle on paper. That will be me: nothing inside.
Poem "It is not the Muse who keeps her mouth shut…".
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13
The world probably can no longer be saved, but an individual person always can.
Nobel lecture (1987).
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Comments (1)
«Письма римскому другу» знаю наизусть со школы, до сих пор мурашки от «Если выпало в империи родиться…»