“The worstis when people – knowingly or not -carry prison inside thems”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“Haven’t you ever thought of livingunconsciously like bears, sniffing the earth,close to pears and the mossy dark,far from human voices and”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“The cloth cap on my headdoesn’t tellwhat’s in it.”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“I can’t promise to becalm, dignified,and indifferent, like a rock by the sea…If my heart’s going to break, let it break from anger,grief,or”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“Never mind the stillness -the deep sleeps to”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“I like the sound of rain more than my”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“Separation isn’t time or distanceit’s the bridge between usfiner than silk thread sharper than swords”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“I know you can’t wash in the same river even onceI know the river will bring new lights that you will not seeI know we live slightly longer than a horse and not nearly as long as a crowI know this has troubled people before and will trouble those after meI know all this has been said a thousand times before and will be said after meI didn’t know I like the sky cloudy or clearthe blue vault that Andrei watched on his back on the battlefield at Borodino…”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“The beeches deep in snow,I walk the dark woodsIn sorrow, sorrow.Your hand, where is your”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“The life-loving, smart,good-hearted deaddon’t want forty days of mourningor say, “After me the deluge!”Leaving behind some helpful things- a few words, a tree, a smile -each gets up and goesand does not burden the livingwith the darkness of the tomb,carrying the weightof his stone all alone.And because they ask for nothingfrom the living, it’s as if they aren’t d”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“The strangest of our powersIs the courage to liveKnowing that we will die,Knowing nothing more”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“I come and stand at every door But none can hear my silent tread I knock and yet remain unseen For I am dead for I am dead I’m only seven though I died In Hiroshima long ago I’m seven now as I was then When children die they do not grow My hair was scorched by swirling flame My eyes grew dim my eyes grew blind Death came and turned my bones to dust And that was scattered by the wind I need no fruit I need no rice I need no sweets nor even bread I ask for nothing for myself For I am dead for I am dead All that I need is that for peace You fight today you fight today So that the children of this world Can live and grow and laugh and”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“Believe in seeds, earth, and the sea, but in people above all. Love clouds, machines, and books, but people above all. Grievefor the withering branch, the dying star,and the hurt animal, but feel for people above all.Rejoice in all the earth’s blessings-darkness and light, the four seasons, but people abov”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“Most animals are like people-and like good people”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“My head bows before the thing you mention.But my heart doesn’t speak that lan”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“Living is no laughing matter:You must take it seriously.So much so and to such a degreethat, for example, your hands tiedbehind your back,your back to the wallor else in a laboratoryin your white coat and safety glasses,you can die for people –even for people whose faces you’venever seen,even though you know livingis the most real, most beautifulthing.I mean, you must take living soseriouslythat even at seventy, for example, you’llplant olive trees –and not for your children, either,but because, although you fear death youdon’t believe it,because living, I mean, weighs heavier.- “On Living”
— Nâz?m Hikmet
“And the most beautiful words ever spoken, I have not yet said to you.”
— Nâz?m Hikmet