“A verbal trap; after the end there is nothing, since if there were something, the end would not be the end. Nonetheless, we are always setting forth to meet…, even though we know that there is nothing, or no one, awaiting us. We go along, without a fixed itinerary, yet at the same time with an end (what end?) in mind, and with the aim of reaching the end. A search for the end, a dread of the end: the obverse and the reverse of the same act. Without this end that constantly eludes us we would not journey forth, nor would there be any paths. But the end is the refutation and the condemnation of the path: at the end the path dissolves, the meeting fades away to nothingness. And the end—it too fades away to nothingness.”
Octavio Paz“Mineral cactai,quicksilver lizards in the adobe walls,the bird that punctures space,thirst, tedium, clouds of dust, impalpable epiphanies of wind.The pines taught me to talk to myself.In that garden I learnedto send myself off.Later there were no gardens. ”
Octavio Paz, A Draft of Shadows and Other Poems“To reduce poetry to its reflections of historical events and movements would be like reducing the poet's words to their logical or grammatical connotations.”
Octavio Paz, The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings“Writers, you know, are the beggars of Western society.”
Octavio Paz“No one is alone, and each change here brings about another change there.”
Octavio Paz“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.”
Octavio Paz“Self-discovery is above all the realization that we are alone: it is the opening of an impalpable, transparent wall - that of our consciousness - between the world and ourselves.”
Octavio Paz“Any reflection about poetry should begin, or end, with this question: who and how many read poetry books?”
Octavio Paz“Poetry is the experience of liberty. The poet risks himself, chances all on the poem's all with each verse he writes.”
Octavio Paz“Surrealism is not a poetry but a poetics, and even more, and more decisively, a world vision.”
Octavio Paz“Poetry is not a genre in harmony with the modern world; its innermost nature is hostile or indifferent to the dogmas of modern times, progress and the cult of the future.”
Octavio Paz