More from Czeslaw Milosz
I imagine the earth when I am no more: Women’s dresses, dewy lilacs, a song in the valley. Yet the books will be there on the shelves, well born, Derived from people, but also from radiance, heights.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz I’ve always regretted that I’m made of contradictions. But, if contradiction is impossible to overcome, we have to accept both its ends.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz Our memory is childish and it saves only what we need.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death – the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz Forget the suffering You caused others. Forget the suffering Others caused you. The waters run and run, Springs sparkle and are done, You walk the earth you are forgetting.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz From life, from the apple cut by the flaming knife, what grain will be saved? My son, believe me, nothing remains, Only adult toil, the furrow of fate in the palm. Only toil, Nothing more.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz When I die, I will see the lining of the world. The other side, beyond bird, mountain, sunset.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz Consciousness even in my sleep changes primary colors. The features of my face melt like a wax doll in the fire. And who can consent to see in the mirror the mere face of man?
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz On the day the world ends A bee circles a clover, A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz He returns years later, has no demands. He wants only one, most precious thing: To see, purely and simply, without name, Without expectations, fears, or hopes, At the edge where there is no I or not-I.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz Men will clutch at illusions when they have nothing else to hold to.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz When I curse Fate, it’s not me, but the earth in me.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz I think that I am here, on this earth, to present a report on it, but to whom I don’t know. As if I were sent so that whatever takes place has meaning because it changes into memory.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz The soul exceeds its circumstances.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz Love means to look at yourself The way one looks at distant things For you are only one thing among many.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet Yet is not a prophet, for he’s much too busy, Repeats while he binds his tomatoes: No other end of the world will there be, No other end of the world will there be.
Czeslaw MiloszCzeslaw Milosz
Original quotes
From our community writers
In this wilderness, Mankind is the animal I fear.
Addison SchmittAddison Schmitt The irony is that he broke the only person he never wanted to hurt.
Krishan PandeyKrishan Pandey I will wait, I am waiting, and I will love you with all the love I posses until this body is ash and I begin my search for you again.
Tyler Knott GregsonTyler Knott Gregson Nothing is permanent not even your pain.
Taj AroraTaj Arora Do not insist me to let you go, you come half hearted like a crescent moon, and you go heart-filled like a full moon which glows.
Nikita GandhiNikita Gandhi I want to fold you into my book, like a petal, so that you’d never leave.
Mira R. AridiMira R. Aridi It seems strange how we look in the same mirror, yet what stares back, is so painfully different.
Chris AllchinChris Allchin Do not measure yourself by success, failure, or a degree. Measure your life by the dreams you have.
Natalie MooneyNatalie Mooney
Meet the writers
More on calm
Meditation helps you stay in a calm, clear-headed state so that when challenges come at you, you can deal with them like a ninja – in a calm thoughtful way. When you’re centered, your emotions are not hijacking you.
Ray DalioRay Dalio Put your trust in God and just go calmly on your way.
Norman Vincent PealeNorman Vincent Peale Riches are of little avail in many of the calamities to which mankind are liable.
Miguel de CervantesMiguel de Cervantes Thoughts will lead you in circles. Silence will bring you back to your centre.
Rasheed OgunlaruRasheed Ogunlaru Never be hurried in anything. Do all things calmly and in a spirit of repose. Do not lose your inward peace even if everything seems to be going wrong. What is anything in life compared to peace of soul?
St Francis De SalesSt Francis De Sales A heaven so clear, an earth so calm, So sweet, so soft, so hushed an air; And, deepening still the dreamlike charm, Wild moor-sheep feeding everywhere.
Emily BronteEmily Bronte Breathing is central to every aspect of meditation training. It’s a wonderful place to focus in training the mind to be calm and concentrated.
Jon Kabat-ZinnJon Kabat-Zinn Calm and serene The sound of a cicada Penetrates the rock.
Matsuo BashoMatsuo Basho