Quotes Pablo Neruda

Biography

Pablo Neruda was born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto in Parral, Chile on July 12, 1904. His mother

died just weeks later, and his father discouraged his affinity for poetry, which he had displayed

since the age of ten. His family’s disapproval drove the young Basoalto to write under the

pseudonym of Pablo Neruda, which he officially adopted in 1946. Neruda was married three times,

although Chile did not officially recognize his second marriage. Although his published poetry was

widely respected by the time he reached age twenty, Neruda found it necessary to follow his

budding political career to Asia in order to make a living. In Europe in the 1930’s he became

involved in Communism , which would influence his later political actions as well as much of his

poetry. In 1946 he successfully campaigned in Chile for the regime of Gabriel Gonzalez Videla, but

he soon publicly expressed displeasure with Videla’s presidency and was forced to flee his homeland

for several years. Neruda was able to return to Chile in 1952, finally both wealthy and widely

respected. In 1971 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature . He died of cancer at age 69

on September 23, 1973. By that time he was recognized as a national hero and the greatest Latin

American poet of the twentieth century.

A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who doesn't play has lost

forever the child who lived in him and who he will miss terribly.

Pablo Neruda

And one by one the nights between our separated cities are joined to the night

that unites us.

Pablo Neruda

But from each crime are born bullets that will one day seek out in you where the

heart lies.

Pablo Neruda

I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took

its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests.

Pablo Neruda

I want to do to you what spring does with the cherry trees.

Pablo Neruda

Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Pablo Neruda

Peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into the making of bread.

Pablo Neruda

The books that help you most are those which make you think that most. The

hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from

a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.

Pablo Neruda

You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.

Pablo Neruda

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