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I thought poetry could change everything, could change history and could humanize, and I think that the illusion is very necessary to push poets to be involved and to believe, but now I think that poetry changes only the poet.

— Mahmoud Darwish

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More quotes by Mahmoud Darwish

If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them, their oils would become tears.

The sea is the obsession of the poet, because the first poetic rhythm, or the first sense of poetic rhythm, was born of the motion of the waves.

And when you think of others, far away, think of yourself
And say: I am a candle in the darkness.

And when you return home – to your house – think upon others
Such as those who live in tents.

When you fall asleep counting planets, think upon others
Who cannot find a place to sleep.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Mahmoud Darwish (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.