Nothing can ever happen twice. In consequence, the sorry fact is that we arrive here improvised and leave without the chance to practice.
WISLAWA SZYMBORSKAThis terrifying world is not devoid of charms, of the mornings that make waking up worthwhile.
More Wislawa Szymborska Quotes
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Dying – you can’t do that to a cat.
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I started earning a living as a poet rather early on.
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Even a graphomaniac is an extremely complicated person.
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All the best have something in common, a regard for reality, an agreement to its primacy over the imagination.
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Animals don’t even try to look any different from what nature intended. They humbly wear their shells, scales, spines, plumes, pelts, and down. The conscious impulse to change one’s appearance is found only among humans.
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Poorly prepared for the dignity of life, I barely keep up with the pace of the action imposed. Reality demands.
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Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through.
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Out of every hundred people, those who always know better: fifty-two.
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Nothing’s a gift, it’s all on loan.
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It’s a well-known fact: in order to follow doctor’s orders, you have to be healthy as a horse.
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After every war someone has to tidy up.
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Such certainty is beautiful, but uncertainty is more beautiful still.
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Sometimes I write quickly, sometimes I spend several weeks on a single poem. I would really love for readers not to be able to guess which of the poems took so much work!
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Poetic talent doesn’t operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit of Polish poetry.
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No one feels good at four in the morning. If ants feel good at four in the morning —three cheers for the ants.
WISLAWA SZYMBORSKA