There are worse crimes than burning books—one is not reading them.

Joseph Brodsky · Press conference on accepting the post of U.S. Poet Laureate (May 17, 1991)

For someone who has read a lot of Dickens, to shoot his like in the name of some idea is more problematic than for someone who has read no Dickens.

Joseph Brodsky · The source reads: “Had we been choosing our leaders on the basis of their reading experience and not their political programs, there would be much less grief on earth.… I believe… that for someone who has read a lot of Dickens, to shoot his like in the name of some idea is more problematic than for someone who has read no Dickens.” · Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1987)

The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even eccentricity. Evil is a sucker for solidity.

Joseph Brodsky · The source reads: “The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even—if you will—eccentricity. That is, something that can't be feigned, faked, imitated; something even a seasoned impostor couldn't be happy with. Something, in other words, that can't be shared, like your own skin: not even by a minority. Evil is a sucker for solidity.” · Commencement address at Williams College (1984)

There are worse crimes than burning books—one is not reading them.

For someone who has read a lot of Dickens, to shoot his like in the name of some idea is more problematic than for someone who has read no Dickens.

The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even eccentricity. Evil is a sucker for solidity.

To write all things in a book is to leave a sword in the hands of a child.

Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders.

I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want you.

We Value Your Opinion Comments

“There are worse crimes than burning books—one is not reading them.”

“For someone who has read a lot of Dickens, to shoot his like in the name of some idea is more problematic than for someone who has read no Dickens.”

“The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even eccentricity. Evil is a sucker for solidity.”

“To write all things in a book is to leave a sword in the hands of a child.”

“Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders.”

“I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want you.”

We Value Your Opinion Comments

There are worse crimes than burning books—one is not reading them.

For someone who has read a lot of Dickens, to shoot his like in the name of some idea is more problematic than for someone who has read no Dickens.

The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even eccentricity. Evil is a sucker for solidity.

To write all things in a book is to leave a sword in the hands of a child.

Writers, like teeth, are divided into incisors and grinders.

I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want you.