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"Poetry is a form of mathematics, a highly rigorous relationship with words."
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"I get a little poetic sometimes. The moonlight does that to me."

"And here, in thought, to thee-In thought that can alone, Ascend thy empire and so be A partner of thy throne, By winged Fantasy, My embassy is given, Till secrecy shall knowledge be In the environs of Heaven."

"Every poet has his dream reader: mine keeps a look out for curious prosodic fauna like bacchics and choriambs."

"That men, who might have tower'd in the vanOf all the congregated world, to fanAnd winnow from the coming step of timeAll chaff of custom, wipe away all slimeLeft by men-slugs and human serpentry,Have been content to let occasion die,Whilst they did sleep in love's Elysium."

"The drama is complete poetry. The ode and the epic contain it only in germ; it contains both of them in a state of high development, and epitomizes both."

"You should be more carefulwhen you move, my dearwhat with you...spilling moonlightinto my poem, with a mereflick of your hand."

"Poetry. i am not writing it.(make way for me please)it is my skin. dripping with light."
Explore more quotes by Tahar Ben Jelloun


"An individual voice can be heard in a choir that otherwise sings in unison. This is something that is not excused."


"I write about wounds, the eternal treasons of life. It's not very funny, but it's sincere. My commitment is to sincerity."


"The power of the word in Morocco belonged to men and to the authorities. No one asked the point of view of poor people or women."


"I came to poetry through the urgent need to denounce injustice, exploitation, humiliation. I know that's not enough to change the world. But to remain silent would have been a kind of intolerable complicity."


"It is through accepting other people in our own countries that we shall come to respect our neighbours and be respected in our turn."


"Emigration is no longer a solution; it's a defeat. People are risking death, drowning every day, but they're knocking on doors that are not open."


"At 21, I discovered repression and injustice. The army would shoot students with real bullets."
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