Quotes About Art

Pronto comprendió que sólo existían dos maneras de acceder a él: mediante la violencia abierta, que no venía al caso pues era un hombre apacible y nervioso al que repugnaba hasta la vista de la sangre, o mediante la literatura, que es una forma de violencia soterrada y que concede respetabilidad y en ciertos países jóvenes y sensibles es uno de los disfraces de la escala social.

La literatura es una máquina acorazada. No se preocupa de los escritores. A veces ni siquiera se da cuenta de que éstos están vivos. Su enemigo es otro, mucho más grande, mucho más poderoso, y que a la postre la terminará venciendo, pero ésa es otra historia.

So Lorenzo grew up in Chile without arms, an unfortunate situation for any child, but he also grew up in Pinochet's Chile, which turned unfortunate situations into desperate ones, on top of which he soon discovered that he was homosexual, which made his already desperate situation inconceivable and indescribable. Given these circumstances, it is not surprising that Lorenzo became an artist. (What else could he do?)

Hard cocks, with glorious exceptions, were hardly ever literary.

con la franqueza característica de los soldados y de los caballeros que saben reconocer una obra de arte cuando la ven, aunque no la entiendan.

Los floreros disimulan La puerta del Infierno

Sólo la poesía no está contaminada, sólo la poesía está fuera del negocio. No sé si me entiende, maestro. Sólo la poesía, y no toda, eso que quede claro, es alimento sano y no mierda.

La novelas, generalmente, eran heterosexuales, la poesía, en cambio, era absolutamente homosexual, los cuentos, deduzco, eran bisexuales, aunque esto no lo dijo.

It occurred to me all of a sudden, said Amalfitano, it's a Duchamp idea, leaving a geometry book hanging exposed to the elements to see if it learns something about real life.

Un poeta lo puede soportar todo. Lo que equivale a decir que un hombre lo puede soportar todo. Pero no es verdade: son pocas las cosas que un hombre puede soportar. Soportar de verdad. Un poeta, en cambio, lo puede soportar todo. Com esta covicción crecimos. El primer enunciado es cierto, pero conduce a la ruina, a la locura, a la muerte.

Jesus is the masterpiece. The thieves are the minor works. Why are they there? Not to frame the crucifixion, as some innocent souls believe, but to hide it.

Calm is the one thing that will never let us down. And Amalfitano said: everything else lets us down? And the voice: yes, that's right, it's hard to admit, I mean it's hard to have to admit it to you, but that's the honest-to-God truth. Ethics lets us down? The sense of duty lets us down? Honesty lets us down? Curiosity lets us down? Love lets us down? Bravery lets us down? Art lets us down? That's right, said the voice, everything lets us down, everything.

No, I'm just a poet," said San Epifanio, making room for me. "Poetry is more than enough for me, although sooner or later I'm bound to commit the vulgarity of writing stories.

The novel is an imperfect art. It may be the most imperfect of all literary arts. And the more pages you write, the more possibility there is of revealing imperfections...It isn't the same to build a house as it is to build a skyscraper. Often a house is cozier, but to build a skyscraper you have to be very good.

Nur die Lyrik ist nicht verseucht. Nur die Lyrik ist frei von Kommerz… Nur die Lyrik, und auch nicht jede, ist gesunde Nahrung und keine Scheiße.

Yo empecé a escribir porque la poesía me hace más libre, maestro, y nunca lo voy a dejar.

Silence hovers in the yards, leaving no pages with writing on them, that thing we'll later call the work.

book on Archimboldi, a book that might be the grand Archimboldian opus, the pilot fish that would swim for a long time beside the great black shark of the German's oeuvre, or

Now all I read is poetry. Poetry is the one thing that isn't contaminated, the one thing that isn't part of the game. I don't know if you follow me, Professor. Only poetry—and let me be clear, only some of it—is good for you, only poetry isn't shit.

I used to read everything, Professor, I read all the time. Now all I read is poetry. Poetry is the one thing that isn't contaminated, the one thing that isn't part of the game. I don't know if you follow me, Professor. Only poetry—and let me be clear, only some of it—is good for you, only poetry isn't shit.

Toda escritura es una marranada. Las personas que salen de la nada intentando precisar cualquier cosa que pasa por su cabeza, son unos cerdos. Todos los escritores son unos cerdos. Especialmente los de ahora.

Ik ben voor geen enkele vorm van schoonheid immuun.

Of what is lost, irretrievably lost, all I wish to recover is the daily availability of my writing, lines capable of grasping me by the hair and lifting me up when I'm at the end of my strength.

Poetry is the one thing that isn't contaminated, the one thing that isn't part of the game.