Paul Celan

Poetry is a sort of homecoming.

Reality is not simply there, it must be searched and won.

Only truthful hands write true poems. I cannot see any basic difference between a handshake and a poem.

As a writer, I try to do different things, but I'm not going to become a darker artist or turn into Radiohead overnight. I don't think that's my style.

It took me realizing that a broken heart has never actually killed anyone to find the courage to ask for what I want, in just about every situation. That was part of my own growing up.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.