Giannina Braschi Quotes

• What is liberty? The measure of dignity.

  Giannina Braschi

  Liberty, Dignity

  46 Copy quote

• Poetry must find ways of breaking distance.... all languages are dialects that are made to break new grounds.

  Giannina Braschi

  Distance, Poetry, Way

  Giannina Braschi (1998). “Yo-yo boing!”, Latin Amer Literary Review Press

  7 Copy quote

• I have nothing against the smell of rot but something against what hides the smell of rot in the United States of America.

  Giannina Braschi

  Smell, America, United States

  "United States of Banana". Book by Giannina Braschi, 2011.

  11 Copy quote

• It's true that things are beautiful when they work. Art is function.

  Giannina Braschi

  Beautiful, Art, Function

  "Empire of Dreams". Book by Giannina Braschi, 1994.

  8 Copy quote

• Questions don't change the truth. But they give it motion.

  Giannina Braschi

  Truth, Giving, Don't Change

  "Empire of Dreams". Book by Giannina Braschi, 1988.

  4 Copy quote

• Only what is fated to die is capable of living. Only what dies lives.

  Giannina Braschi

  Dies, Capable

  Giannina Braschi, Tess O'Dwyer (1994). “Empire of Dreams”, p.213, Yale University Press

  4 Copy quote

• 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.

  Giannina Braschi

  Life, Love Is, Hair

  "Empire of Dreams". Book by Giannina Braschi, 2012.

  8 Copy quote

• Marketers keep inventing desires, necessities for you and for me. I need this. I need that. I need. I need. It's the need of a smoking fit. If you don't smoke that cigarette now, you'll die - when in reality you die because you succumb to the rage and rattle of the needy greed that keeps you busy needing more and more things. Is this the American Dream - the greedy need?

  Giannina Braschi

  Dream, Reality, Greed

  "United States of Banana". Book by Giannina Braschi, 2011.

  5 Copy quote

• Nativity is the enemy of prophecy.

  Giannina Braschi

  Enemy, Prophecy, Nativity

  "United States of Banana". Book by Giannina Braschi, 2011.

  8 Copy quote

• 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.

  Giannina Braschi

  Baby, Memories, News

  "Empire of Dreams". Book by Giannina Braschi, 1983.

  4 Copy quote

• Banks are the temples of America. This is a holy war. Our economy is our religion.

  Giannina Braschi

  War, America, Temples

  "United States of Banana". Book by Giannina Braschi, 2011.

  4 Copy quote

• If you want to know what love is, have a child. If you want to know what pain is, bury him.

  Giannina Braschi

  Love, Children, Pain

  "Yo-Yo Boing!". Book by Giannina Braschi, 1998.

  4 Copy quote

• Metaphors and Similes are the beginning of the democratic system of envy.

  Giannina Braschi

  Envy, Metaphor, Democratic

  "United States of Banana". Book by Giannina Braschi, 2011.

  5 Copy quote

• Ambulances always come with clouds of smoke. And then they disappear in a whistle. But what they bring is fear. Not freedom. Feardom is what they bring. And they bring fire and smoke. Oh, my nerves are bad tonight, yes, bad. I fear freedom. I, above all, fear the freedom that is above all feardom.

  Giannina Braschi

  Freedom, Fire, Clouds

  "United States of Banana". Book by Giannina Braschi, 2011.

  7 Copy quote

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