Giannina Braschi Quotes

Puerto Rican writer

Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, and political philosopher. She wrote the postmodern poetry epic "Empire of Dreams" (1988), the Spanglish classic "Yo-Yo Boing!" (1998), and geopolitical tragicomedy "United States of Banana" (2011) on the collapse of the American empire.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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.

When I was a little girl, my parents would say Puerto Rico can't be free because we would be poor like Cuba and poor like Haiti. Out of the fear of becoming poor we didn't dare to become free. Then a hurricane comes, devastates everything, and maybe we are as poor as Cuba and Haiti, but we are not free.

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.

Not every pigeon is a rat with wings. Not every rat with wings is a dove of peace.

Nostalgia is a fruit with the pain of distance in its pit.

Liberty is not an option. It is a human right.

If you look for an identity you find inequality. If you look for similarities you separate one truth from another.