Popular quotes

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“Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine.”

“The city becomes an ideal metaphor for how I perceive human beings.”

“Latin America’s right-wing has no shame in throwing itself at the highest bidder — their morals shift to match whoever’s holding the purse strings.”

“Just a moment ago, he was certainly contemplating a shadow on the ground, and now he was the shadow contemplating himself.”

“There’s no way that Michael Jackson or whoever Jackson should have a million thousand droople billion dollars and then there’s people starving. There’s no way! There’s no way that these people should own planes and there people don’t have houses. Apartments. Shacks. Drawers. Pants! I know you’re rich. I know you got 40 billion dollars, but can you just keep it to one house? You only need ONE house. And if you only got two kids, can you just keep it to two rooms? I mean why have 52 rooms and you know there’s somebody with no room?! It just don’t make sense to me. It don’t.”

“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soulmate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”

“Actions can easily reveal the truth about the person, but also remember not to ignore the words.”

“Proud to be a "damn South American" and not a "suck-up" to the United States.”

“School is not a daycare center.”

“Telling stories from the margins is a symbolic act of justice.”

“The Chilean silence is one of repression; the Mexican, of resignation.”

“Chile hides its wounds with order and progress; Mexico displays them with folklore.”

“What society refuses to see is what most strongly defines it.”

“Good literature should disturb the status quo, not preach.”

“I have been opposed, from the beginning, to presenting ideological, political, or religious pamphleteering stances that seek to simplify the human experience into functional Manichaeism.”

“The urban allows me to explore those contradictions without falling into propagandistic or moralistic discourse; an essential matter, in my view, when it comes to literature.”

“I’m not interested in portraying the official city, the one that appears on postcards or government videos, but that other one—the one that pulses on the margins.”

“Literature must avoid propaganda or moralism if it truly wants to be critical and open.”

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”