A union of two cultures 鈥� Andulasian Spanish on his mother鈥檚 side, Indian and Spanish on his father鈥檚 鈥� inspired many of Octavio Paz鈥檚 poems and essays. He found influence everywhere: in Marxism, surrealism, Buddhism, eroticism, modern art and Mexican politics. In 鈥淪un Stone鈥� (1957) the poet reinterpreted existential life questions using an Aztecian calendar stone. Paz won the Nobel Prize "for impassioned writing with wide horizons, characterized by sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.鈥�
