Words are things, but things which mean. We cannot do away with meaning without doing away with signs, that is, with language itself. Moreover, we would have to do away with the universe. All the things man touches are impregnated with meaning. Octavio Paz impregnatelanguageman share on social
Abstract painting seeks to be a pure pictorial language, and thus attempts to escape the essential impurity of all languages: the recourse to signs or forms that have meanings shared by everyone. Octavio Paz abstractattemptescape Change image and share on social
The minority of Mexicans who are aware of their own selves do not make up a closed or unchanging class. They are the only active group, in comparison with the Indian-Spanish inertia of the rest, and ever day they are shaping the country more and more into their own image. Octavio Paz activeawareclass share on social
Man, it seems to me, is not in history: he is history. Octavio Paz historyman Change image and share on social
Surrealism is not a poetry but a poetics, and even more, and more decisively, a world vision. Octavio Paz decisivelypoeticpoetry Change image and share on social
No one is alone, and each change here brings about another change there. Octavio Paz bringchange Change image and share on social
In each verse, a decision awaits us, and we can't choose to close our eyes and let instinct work on its own. Poetic instinct consists of an alert tension. Octavio Paz alertawaitchoose Change image and share on social
One of the most notable traits of the Mexican's character is his willingness to contemplate horror: he is even familiar and complacent in his dealings with it. Octavio Paz charactercomplacentcontemplate Change image and share on social
In the United States, man does not feel that he has been torn from the center of creation and suspended between hostile forces. He has built his own world, and it is built in his own image: it is his mirror. But now he cannot recognize himself in his inhuman objects, nor in his fellows. Octavio Paz buildcentercreation share on social
Writers, you know, are the beggars of Western society. Octavio Paz beggarsocietywestern Change image and share on social
