Literature

“O King, my house is mahapurana (very old) like the Bhagavata, but while the Bhagavata is replete with artha (profound sense), the house contains no artha (money).”

“Para conocer la utilidad, el arte, el mérito, la gracia y la beldad de la poesía no es menester ser poeta.”

“Poetry provides an important alternative voice to journalists or pundits or academics as a way of dealing with things that matter to us all.”

“A mixture of memory, observation, and imagination finally make a poem what it is.”

“Am I not preparing for the great object of embellishing the tongue of my fathers?”

“The purpose of literature is to help toward ultimate perfection in the culture of beauty, and to instill purity into the mind of man by creative thoughts.”

“In all my stories, in all my work, I do NOT write about the Filipino, I write about MAN.”

“This is where we lived in, down Second Avenue — that’s the title of my autobiography, Down Second Avenue.”

“Dalam kalimat ketjil seperti: Sekali berarti, sudah itu mati — kita bisa djalin-anjamkan seluruh tudjuan hidup kita.”

“I am filmmaker not an author, the motion picture is my medium of expression not the written word.”

“The specific object of what Broch liked to call “novelistic knowledge” is existence.”

“Not to speak of sentiment and thought, which constitute the real and lasting merit of any work.”

“Liber hic, Lector candide, posthumus P. Matthaei Riccii partus.”

“The Australian writer, until he gets a “London hearing”, is only accepted as an imitator of some recognised English or American author.”

“The great big public thinks of poetry, particularly modern poetry, as something highbrow.”

“The Gospels captivated my heart and mind.”

“I revere the memory of Pope, I respect and honour his abilities; but I do not think him at the head of his profession.”

“I believe there is something that can be passed between writers, between generations—that changes in time but not in essentials.”