Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems.
Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence.
To be born again, first you must die.
要重生，首先你必须死去。
A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep.
What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.
Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems—but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems more and more incredible.
现实是一个视角问题；你离过去越远，它看起来就越具体和可信——但当你接近现在时，它不可避免地显得越来越不可思议。
A dream is a place where a wish and a fear meet. When the wish and the fear are exactly equally balanced, you call the dream a nightmare.
梦是愿望和恐惧相遇的地方。当愿望和恐惧完全平衡时，你称这个梦为噩梦。
Most of what matters in our lives takes place in our absence.
我们生活中最重要的大部分事情都在我们不在的时候发生。
We all owe death a life.
Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as they change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.
A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep.
The only thing of value is the thing you cannot buy.
唯一有价值的东西是你无法买到的东西。
A writer's life is a highly vulnerable, almost naked activity. We don't have to weep about that. The writer makes his choice and is stuck with it. But it is true to say that you are open to all the winds, some of them icy indeed. You are out on your own, out on a limb. You find no shelter, no protection — unless you lie — in which case of course you have constructed your own protection and, it could be argued, become a politician.
作家的生活是高度脆弱、几乎赤裸的活动。我们不必为此哭泣。作家做出了选择并坚持它。但可以说，你向所有的风敞开，其中一些确实冰冷。你独自一人，处于危险之中。你找不到庇护，没有保护——除非你撒谎——在这种情况下，你当然已经构建了自己的保护，可以说，成为了一个政治家。
The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any society, because it seeks to turn other ideas — uncertainty, progress, change — into crimes.