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Tomas Transtromer

Tomas Transtromer Quotes

Poet

Tomas Transtromer, born on April 15, 1931, in Stockholm, Sweden, was a renowned Swedish poet. His poetry, known for its unique imagery and profound philosophy, earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature. Transtromer's works often explore themes of nature, memory, loneliness, and the human condition, and have been beloved by readers worldwide.

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All Shadow Stills Behinds Faces Real Abstract Airy Alternatives Ashamed Backgrounds

Famous Tomas Transtromer Quotes

“No one decides where I go, least of all myself, though each step is where it must be.”

Decisions Self Determination

Author:Tomas Transtromer

“A person shows himself for an instant as in a photograph but clearer and in the background something which is bigger than his shadow.”

Persons Shows Shadow Bigger Photograph Backgrounds Instant

Author:Tomas Transtromer

“I am still the place where creation does some work on itself.”

Doe Stills Creation

Author:Tomas Transtromer

“A ship's engine far away on the water expands the summer-night horizon. Both joy and sorrow swell in the dew's magnifying glass. Without really knowing, we divine; our life has a sister ship, following quietly another route. While the sun blazes behind the islands.”

“Every abstract picture of the world is as impossible as a blueprint of a storm. Don't be ashamed because you're human: be proud! Inside you, vaults behind vaults open endlessly. You will never be finished, and that's as it should be.”

World Should Humans Behinds Impossible Proud Storm Finished Abstract Ashamed Be Proud Blueprints Vaults

Author:Tomas Transtromer

“The airy sky has taken its place leaning against the wall. It is like a prayer to what is empty And what is empty turns its face to us and whispers: 'I am not empty, I am open'.”

Faces Turns Prayer Taken Sky Wall Empty Emptiness Detachment Numbness Airy

Book:The Half-Finished Heaven: Selected Poems

Source: The Half-Finished Heaven: Selected Poems

“We always feel younger than we are. I carry inside myself my earlier faces, as a tree contains its rings. The sum of them is me. The mirror sees only my latest face, while I know all my previous ones.”

Knows Feels Faces Tree Mirrors Rings

Book:The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems

Source: The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems

“I am carried in my shadow like a violin in its black case”

Black Cases Shadow Violin

Book:The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems

Source: The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems

“In the middle of life, death comes to take your measurements. The visit is forgotten and life goes on. But the suit is being sewn on the sly.”

Middle Goes On Forgotten Suits Measurement Life Death Life Goes On Sly

Book:The Deleted World: Poems

Source: The Deleted World: Poems

“It is still beautiful to hear the heart beat but often the shadow seems more real than the body.”

Heart Stills Real Body Seems Beautiful Beats Shadow Heart Beat

Book:The Half-Finished Heaven: Selected Poems

Source: The Half-Finished Heaven: Selected Poems

“It's always so early in here, before the crossroads, before the irrevocable choices. Thank you for this life! Still I miss the alternatives. The sketches, all of them, want to become real.”

Want Stills Real Choices Missing This Life Alternatives Thank You Crossroads Irrevocable

Author:Tomas Transtromer

About the Author

Born: April 15, 1931
Died: March 26, 2015
Known for: Poet
Quotes: 11

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Shadow Stills Behinds Faces Real Abstract Airy Alternatives Ashamed Backgrounds

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People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

The Great Enigma: New Collected PoemsRelated source material

The Half-Finished Heaven: Selected PoemsRelated source material

The Deleted World: PoemsRelated source material

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