Octavio Paz

The idea of modernity is beginning to lose its vitality. It is losing it because modernity is no longer a critical attitude but an accepted, codified convention.

The sound of water is worth more than all the poets' words.

Self-discovery is above all the realization that we are alone: it is the opening of an impalpable, transparent wall - that of our consciousness - between the world and ourselves.

Despite the impression you may have from watching too much TV, movies are not about reproducing reality. They're about telling stories.

Strictly speaking, the idea of a scientific poem is probably as nonsensical as that of a poetic science.

Well, I actually wrote her a letter a couple of days ago congratulating her. The tone I tried to convey in the letter is, look, you are a part of a great American historical process.