“These words are not constructed of ink and paper. They are no formed of movement and sound. They are echoes of my soul. May they ripple outward and give strength to those who hear them.”

“Yell to be heard and no one will listen, speak in whispers and all will strain to hear.”

“Meanings are translatable. Words are untranslatable… More briefly – a word is translatable, its sound is not.”

“The store of fairy tales, that blue chamber where stories lie waiting to be rediscovered, holds out the promise of just those creative enchantments, not only for its own characters caught in its own plotlines; it offers magical metamorphoses to the one who opens the door, who passes on what was found there, and to those who hear what the storyteller brings. The faculty of wonder, like curiosity can make things happen; it is time for wishful thinking to have its due.”

“Tonight - I am alone in the night,a homeless and sleepless nun!Tonight I hold all the keys to thisthe only capital cityand lack of sleep guides me on my path.You are so lovely, my dusky Kremlin!Tonight I put my lips to the breastof the whole round and warring earth.Now I feel hair - like fur - standing on end:the stifling winds blow straight into my soul.Tonight I feel compassion for everyone,those who are pitied, along with those who are kissed.”

“Your name is a -- bird in my handa piece of -- ice on the tongueone single movement of the lips.Your name is: five signs,a ball caught in flight, asilver bell in the moutha stone, cast in a quiet poolmakes the splash of your name, andthe sound is in the clatter ofnight hooves, loud as a thunderclapor it speaks straight into my forehead,shrill as the click of a cocked gun.Your name -- how impossible, itis a kiss in the eyes onmotionless eyelashes, chill and sweet.Your name is a kiss of snowa gulp of icy spring water, blueas a dove. About your name is: sleep.”

“Fear is always with us: that we are not good enough or strong enough, and so will fail; that we will be hurt. Fear that what we love will be taken from us. Fear of dying, even fear of God, or of no God. But God surprises us by giving us strength to bear what we must; by giving us joy when we think that nothing but sadness is possible.”