Wislawa Szymborska Quotes

A collection of quotes by Wislawa Szymborska.

Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012) was a Polish poet and essayist, known for her concise and powerful writing style. Born in Prowent, Poland, she grew up during a time of political upheaval, witnessing the atrocities of World War II and the subsequent communist regime. Despite these challenges, Szymborska remained dedicated to her craft and began publishing poetry in the 1940s.

Szymborska's early works were influenced by the devastation of war, exploring themes of loss, mortality, and the human condition. However, her style gradually evolved, marked by a sense of irony and a keen eye for the ordinary aspects of everyday life. She often positioned herself as an observer, crafting poems that questioned the certainties of the world.

Szymborska gained international recognition for her poetry, which has been translated into numerous languages and earned her prestigious awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. Her collections, including "View with a Grain of Sand" and "Here," captivated readers with their ability to find beauty and meaning in the most mundane moments.

Throughout her career, Szymborska remained humble and private, rarely granting interviews or engaging in public appearances. Despite this, her poetry resonated deeply with audiences worldwide, celebrating the complexity, unpredictability, and interconnectedness of existence. Wislawa Szymborska's profound observations and philosophical reflections continue to inspire readers and remind us of the power of language to capture the intricacies of human experience.

I cannot imagine any writer who would not fight for his peac

I cannot imagine any writer who would not fight for his peace and quiet.

Wislawa Szymborska

Peace

In the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, noth

In the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyone's existence in this world.

Wislawa Szymborska

Poetry

I cannot speak for more than an hour exclusively about poetr

I cannot speak for more than an hour exclusively about poetry. At that point, life itself takes over again.

Wislawa Szymborska

Poetry

After every war someone has to tidy up.

After every war someone has to tidy up.

Wislawa Szymborska

War

Everyone needs solitude, especially a person who is used to

Everyone needs solitude, especially a person who is used to thinking about what she experiences. Solitude is very important in my work as a mode of inspiration, but isolation is not good in this respect. I am not writing poetry about isolation.

Wislawa Szymborska

Poetry

I have sympathy for young people, for their growing pains, b

I have sympathy for young people, for their growing pains, but I balk when these growing pains are pushed into the foreground, when you make these young people the only vehicles of life's wisdom.

Wislawa Szymborska

Sympathy

Let the people who never find true love keep saying that the

Let the people who never find true love keep saying that there's no such thing. Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die.

Wislawa Szymborska

Faith

Solitude is very important in my work as a mode of inspirati

Solitude is very important in my work as a mode of inspiration, but isolation is not good in this respect. I am not writing poetry about isolation.

Wislawa Szymborska

Poetry

Poetic talent doesn't operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit

Poetic talent doesn't operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit of Polish poetry.

Wislawa Szymborska

Poetry

I usually write for the individual reader -though I would li

I usually write for the individual reader -though I would like to have many such readers. There are some poets who write for people assembled in big rooms, so they can live through something collectively. I prefer my reader to take my poem and have a one-on-one relationship with it.

Wislawa Szymborska

Relationship

All the best have something in common, a regard for reality,

All the best have something in common, a regard for reality, an agreement to its primacy over the imagination.

Wislawa Szymborska

Imagination

Unfortunately, poetry is not born in noise, in crowds, or on

Unfortunately, poetry is not born in noise, in crowds, or on a bus. There have to be four walls and the certainty that the telephone will not ring. That's what writing is all about.

Wislawa Szymborska

Poetry

Any knowledge that doesn't lead to new questions quickly die

Any knowledge that doesn't lead to new questions quickly dies out: it fails to maintain the temperature required for sustaining life.

Wislawa Szymborska

Knowledge

Each of us has a very rich nature and can look at things obj

Each of us has a very rich nature and can look at things objectively, from a distance, and at the same time can have something more personal to say about them. I am trying to look at the world, and at myself, from many different points of view. I think many poets have this duality.

Wislawa Szymborska

Nature