Jaroslav Seifert

“Everything on earth has happened before,
nothing is new,
but woe to the lovers
who fail to discover a fresh blossom
in every future kiss.”
― Jaroslav Seifert, The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert


“If an ordinary person is silent, it may be a tactical maneuver. If a writer is silent, he is lying.”

― Jaroslav Seifert

“But what you minded most at our final parting was that in my poor rags -but was it not the costume of a beggar?- you couldn't see our tears as in a suit of armor.”

― Jaroslav Seifert