Neruda's Loaf: "The Writer's Task"

"My first book!  I have always maintained that the writer's task has nothing to do with mystery or magic, and that the poet's, at least, must be a personal effort for the benefit of all.  The closest thing to poetry is a loaf of bread or a ceramic dish or a piece of wood lovingly carved, even if by clumsy hands."

--from Pablo Neruda's Memoirs--

Notebook entry: 2008, I believe.  (I'll have to hunt up the specific edition.)