58 quotes
The gods envy me because they cannot die.
Identities are not tangible anymore. If you look for an identity you find inequality. The self has been refracting.
the Postcolonial novel United States of Banana (2011)
Nativity is the enemy of prophecy—nativity and roots, which do not allow you to become a prophet in your own land, unless you disassociate from the familiarity of family.
My brain is a piggybank. Drop your coins and feel happy because you’re contributing to my economy. Fundraiser, you are raising the funds to kill my soul every day a little more.
the Postcolonial novel United States of Banana (2011)
And besides, all languages are dialects that are made to break new grounds.
Yo-Yo Boing! (1998)
Poetry must find ways of breaking distance.
Yo-Yo Boing! (1998)
—Poets and anarchists are always the first to go.
—Where.
—To the frontline. Wherever it is.
Yo-Yo Boing! (1998)
I saw the white of fear in America’s eyes. We don’t fear the way we should fear. Our sense of danger should be at the height of our abuse.
United States of Banana (2001)
I fear freedom. I, above all, fear the freedom that is above all feardom.
United States of Banana (2011)
Every four years the citizens of Liberty Island vote for Wishy-Washy. They can choose between mashed potato, french fries, or baked potato. But any way you serve it, it’s all the same potato.
the Puerto Rican novel United States of Banana (2011)
I am not an arsenal of epithets or metaphors. I am the star, and the star shines. I am affirmation.
Pastoral; or the Inquisition of Memories in Empire of Dreams (1988)
Politics is the domestication of war.
Yo-Yo Boing! (1998)
The eradiction of envy: gratitude.
United States of Banana (2011)
A baby is expected. A trip is expected. News is expected. Forgetfulness is expected. An invitation is expected. Hope is expected. But memories are not expected. They just come.
I love hiccups and I love sneezes and I love blinks and I love belches and I love gluttons. I love hair. I love bears. For me, the round. For me, the world.
Empire of Dreams (1988)
The Renaissance had its man: Il Cortesano. The 20th century had its man: the businessman.
United States of Banana (2011)
Not every pigeon is a rat with wings. Not every rat with wings is a dove of peace.
New York City is the Darwinist capital of the capitalist world.
United States of Banana (2011)
Metaphors are the beginning of the democratic system of envy. They look for what is dissimilar and try to make it similar. Everything that is similar cuts the edge of what is unique.
Here. Astride the top of nothingness, I suddenly receive the call of death. Who, in passing, tells me that it’s nothing. Nothing more than the absence of the word itself. Nothing more, and simply nothingness.
Empire of Dreams (1988)