"Every poem is a coat of arms. It must be deciphered. How much blood, how many tears in exchange for these axes, these muzzles, these unicorns, these torches, these towers, these martlets, these seedlings of stars and these fields of blue!"
"The poet doesn't invent. He listens."
"I have lost my seven best friends, which is to say God has had mercy on me seven times without realizing it. He lent a friendship, took it from me, sent me another."
"I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?"
"An artist cannot speak about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture."
"An original artist is unable to copy. So he has only to copy in order to be original."