Octavio Paz

"Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone."

"Art is an invention of aesthetics, which in turn is an invention of philosophers... What we call art is a game."

"Literature is the expression of a feeling of deprivation, a recourse against a sense of something missing. But the contrary is also true: language is what makes us human. It is a recourse against the meaningless noise and silence of nature and history."

"Love is an attempt at penetrating another being, but it can only succeed if the surrender is mutual."

"Literature is the expression of a feeling of deprivation, a recourse against a sense of something missing. But the contrary is also true: language is what makes us human. It is a recourse against the meaningless noise and silence of nature and history."

"To read a poem is to hear it with our eyes to hear it is to see it with our ears."