The real history of consciousness starts with ones first lie. – Joseph Brodsky
I do not believe in political movements. I believe in personal movement, that movement of the soul when a man who looks at himself is so ashamed that he tries to make some sort of change – within himself, not on the outside. – Joseph Brodsky
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them. – Joseph Brodsky
It would be enough for me to have the system of a jury of twelve versus the system of one judge as a basis for preferring the U.S. to the Soviet Union. I would prefer the country you can leave to the country you cannot. – Joseph Brodsky
My generation of bossy, confident, baby-boom women were something brand new in history. Our energy and assertiveness werent created by Betty Friedan, unknown before her 1963 book, or by Gloria Steinem, whose political activism, as even the Lifetime profile admitted, did not begin until 1969. – Camille Paglia