“No matter how daring or cautious you may choose to be, in the course of your life, you are bound to come into direct physical contact with what's known as Evil. I mean here not a property of the gothic novel but, to say the least, a palpable social reality that you in no way can control.”

Russian and American poet and essayist

Joseph Brodsky was a Russian and American poet and essayist. He is known for poetry and prose that moved between Russian and English, and for an essayistic voice that made him a major literary figure in both cultures. Brodsky wrote as a poet and essayist across two languages, and his work is often associated with reflection, exile, and the life of the mind. He is credited on this site with 153 quotes.