13 quotes
They should call the good man an ass! They should call the bad ass a man!
Platero and I (1917)
He is as loving and tender as a child, but strong and sturdy as a rock.
Platero and I (1917)
Dynamic ecstasy is absolute romanticism, absolute heroism.
A permanent state of transition is man's most noble condition.
Transition is a complete present which unites the past and the future in a momentary progressive ecstasy, a progressive eternity, a true eternity of eternities, eternal moments.
If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.
the epigraph in Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
Literature is a state of culture, poetry is a state of grace, before and after culture.
Poetry and Literature (1941)
Sharp nostalgia, infinite
And terrible, for what I already possess!
This short book, where joy and sadness are twins, like the ears of Platero, was written for … I have no idea for whom! … For whomever lyric poets write …
Platero and I (1917)
Platero is a small donkey, a soft, hairy donkey: so soft to the touch that he might be said to be made of cotton, with no bones. Only the jet mirrors of his eyes are hard like two black crystal scarabs.
Platero and I (1917)
Back of my forehead I feel tonight
A whole sky full of stars. Under
a western moon.
Life is indeed lovely!
The man wants to stick his iron pick in the little basket, and I do not prevent him. I open the knapsack, and he sees nothing in it. And the food for the soul passes, candid and free, without paying tribute to the customs.
Platero and I (1917)
Island of grace, of freshness and of joy, Golden Age of children; always I could find you in my life, a sea of mourning; let your breeze lend me its lyre high and sometimes senseless like the trill of the lark in the white sun of morning.
I have never written nor will I ever write anything for children, because I believe the child can read the books that grownups read, with some few exceptions that come to everyone's mind. There are of course exceptions too for men and for women.
Platero and I (1917)