84 quotes
There must be a certain amount of decorum in the world, just as there must be a certain amount of light.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
Talent is a gift that brings with it an obligation to serve the world, and not ourselves, for it is not of our making.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
Ostentatious men who are governed by self-interest will combine, whether white or black, and the generous and selfless will similarly unite.
My Race (1893)
I have lived in the monster and I know its insides; and my sling is the sling of David.
Absolute ideas must take relative forms if they are not to fail because of an error in form.
Our America (1891)
Man loves liberty, even if he does not know that he loves it. He is driven by it and flees from where it does not exist.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
Liberty the essence of life. Whatever is done without it is imperfect.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
There can be no racial animosity, because there are no races.
Our America (1891)
White and black racists would be equally guilty of racism.
My Race (1893)
I wish to leave the world
By its natural door;
In my tomb of green leaves
They are to carry me to die.
Do not put me in the dark
To die like a traitor;
I am good, and like a good thing
I will die with my face to the sun.
A Morir [To Die (1894)
It is necessary to make virtue fashionable.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
Oh, what company good poets are!
Longfellow (1882)
The motherland is an altar, not a platform.
Wings I saw springing
from fair women's shoulders,
and from beneath rubble
I've seen butterflies flutter.
Simple Verses (1891)
He who could have been a torch and stoops to being a pair of jaws is a deserter.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
One just principle from the depths of a cave is more powerful than an army.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
Fortunately, there is a sane equilibrium in the character of nations, as there is in that of men. The force of passion is balanced by the force of interest.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
Every human being has within him an ideal man, just as every piece of marble contains in a rough state a statue as beautiful as the one that Praxiteles the Greek made of the god Apollo.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)
One must have faith in the best in men and distrust the worst. One must allow the best to be shown so that it reveals and prevails over the worst. Nations should have a pillory for whoever stirs up useless hate, and another for whoever fails to tell them the truth in time.
Our America (1891)
The vote is the most effective and merciful instrument that man has devised to manage his affairs.
Martí : Thoughts/Pensamientos (1994)