11 quotes
Given the general inclination of man to abuse power, all government is evil and all authority means tyranny.
Anarquía (1936)
Science has immortal flowers from where bees can extract honey of poetry.
Speech at the Exhibition Palace (1887)
If there is pleasure in conquest with the sword, it is no less sweet illuminating with the torch. Glory for glory, it is better to leave sparks of light than trails of blood.
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)
Do not argue with insurmountable obstacles: the man of solid talent, like a well-bred Cesar, crosses the Rubicon.
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)
Man walks with small steps in infancy and in old age.
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)
If the nations of Europe appear like large pachyderms of the intellectual kingdom, let us not represent in Peru the microbes of literature.
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)
Intelligence does not need to abdicate before force; on the contrary, the voice of reasonable and cultured men must be a corrective to the pernicious work of rudimentary minds.
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)
In opposition to the politicians who covered us in shame and opprobrium, the men of letters rise up, who promise luster and renown. After the barbarians who wounded with the sword come the cultured men who desire to civilize with the pen.
Speech at the Exhibition Palace (1887)
To imitate is akin to moving and tiring oneself in a railway carriage: we imagine accomplishing much, yet we do nothing more than follow the impulse of the engine
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)
form is the merit; let us not forget that only by its form, carbon is sometimes called coal and other times diamond
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)
Whoever writes today and desires to live tomorrow, they must belong to the day, to the hour, to the moment in which they wield the pen. If an author is ahead of their time, it must be for foreseeing the future, not for unearthing dead ideas and words.
Conference at the Lima Athenaeum (1886)