One of the best French poets, Paul Valéry, was born on this day in 1871. In addition to his poems, he also wrote philosophical essays. After an existential crisis in his twenties, Paul Valéry stopped writing and experienced writer’s block, a well-known phenomenon in the life of many classic authors.

His salvation, you may ask?

Poetry.

Here are some of his quotes on his beloved and sacred poetry:

Poets are never finished. Just abandoned.

Paul Valéry

Poetry is to prose as dancing is to walking.

Paul Valéry

Poetry is a separate language, or more specifically, a language within a language.

Paul Valéry

I have made a similar suggestion for poetry: that one should approach it as pure sonority, reading and rereading it as a sort of music, and should not introduce meanings or intentions into the diction before clearly grasping the system of sounds that every poem must offer on pain of nonexistence.

Paul Valéry