Seamus Heaney

"A poem should surprise both the writer and the reader."

"The ground of poetry is silence."

"To write truthfully is to risk being misunderstood."

"Literature connects us to our common humanity."

"The craft of poetry is the craft of paying attention."

"We are sustained by the words of the dead."

"A poem is a way of knowing the world."

"The Irish language carries the wisdom of centuries."

"To write is to participate in the renewal of language."

"We are all products of the languages we speak."

"A poem succeeds when it feels inevitable."

"Language is the only immortality we have."

"The poet is a maker of meaning in a world of chaos."

"We discover ourselves through the act of writing."

"The value of tradition is that it teaches us how to innovate."

"A poem is a gift to the future."

"The music of language is as important as its meaning."

"We are all shaped by the stories we tell ourselves."

"To read is to be changed by what we read."

"The deepest truths are expressed in the simplest words."