Famous Quotations
A few wise and witty statements by Robert Zend, published in John Robert Colombo's Canadian Quotations have made their way around the internet and into inspirational calendars, posters, student essays and so on:
More quotations:
Short Essay on Human Dignity: World's Shortest Pessimistic Poem Being a poet does not depend on the geographical location of the poet’s body, or on the political system under which the publisher functions, but on the linguistic and literary value of the poems. The pseudo-poet uses the medium of poetry to speak; When I talk about myself, I talk about you too. When I like someone, it means that I like myself when I am with him. The only certain thing is uncertainty. Shitting is the archetype of every artistic creation. A misfit is a human being who tries to remain a human being despite the surrounding pressure called mankind. Here is the solution for the problems of the world: We have to learn to play. With worlds, with ideas, with people, with life, with our selves. [...] This is the solution. This is the salvation. The World is God's laughter at His joke, the World. In wakefulness we react to events with emotions; in dreams we react to emotions with events. |
Happiness is when the toothache stops. Freedom is everybody's homeland. There are two kinds of freedom: not to serve others, and not to be served by others. Classless society is the dream of people with no class. In Communist countries there are two classes of men; the Communists and the proletarians. No matter how rich you are, you cannot use your two bathrooms at the same time. I am willing to do anything for money, even work. I would rather have a hundred smug friends than one friend insecure; every insecure person is a potential Hitler or Stalin. Our universe is a tree on the leaf of existence Budapest is my homeland / Toronto is my home / In Toronto I am nostalgic for Budapest / In Budapest I am nostalgic for Toronto / Everywhere else I am nostalgic for my nostalgia. In a country where everyone is searching for identity, I am an alien for I'm already identical, "No one chooses his parents. No one chooses his children. No one chooses himself." Thinking is useless. But it's fun. An editor is blessed with the talent of others. |
Zend quoted in Art & Space Smithsonian magazine article, "The Pluto of Science Fiction"
By Gregory Benford, May 13, 2015
In literature, there’s poetic reference by the Hungarian poet Robert Zend, describing the dwarf planet as “the old man who lives alone in the attic, visible only by the glint of the Sun off his pince-nez.”