Odysseus Elytis

“Freedom comes from a great effort.”

“I consider it a great happiness to be a Greek.”

“The world became, in my eyes, the mirror of my heart.”

“If you decompose Greece, in the end you will be left with an olive tree, a vineyard, and a boat. Which means that with these items you can rebuild Greece.”

“I am one of those who believe that poetry is a source of innocence.”

“The language with which I write is the Greek language. And this is not a limitation.”

“What is beautiful is what is true, and what is true is what is beautiful.”

“Poetry must have a utility, but a utility that is not immediately apparent.”

“My soul is consumed by this insane passion for the light.”

“I know that all of this is not for nothing, that somewhere, somehow, there is a reason for all of this.”

“Beauty, you see, is not a luxury. It is a necessity.”

“The sun is the first truth.”

“What I want is to be writing the verse that I am living.”

“With a branch of the olive tree, I ascend the mountain.”

“I have always been a man who sought the impossible.”

“In the end, you will find that it is the small things that are the most precious.”