Matt de la Pena Quotes - Page 2

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Books Character Feelings Home School Writing

This is me putting it simply; the politicians are one demographic and they see that Arizona is changing. I feel like the only instinct to retain power is to have education favor you. You have this Mexican American program that helps kids take ownership of their race and their power. It threatens the political powers that are in place.

Matt de la Pena

Kids, Race, Mexican

Source: therumpus.net

10 Copy quote
My chest got this weird feeling, like when you stare into the eyes of a little baby and the baby looks back up at you and you can feel how pure and innocent it is, so much that it makes your stomach feel empty - probably 'cause you realize you used to be pure like that, too, and now you're not.

Matt de la Pena

Baby, Eye, Feelings

4 Copy quote
Whenever I teach writing I tell them to never revise as you go. Finish the first draft. This is my writing advice. I can't do that myself. I'm lying to everybody. I write a paragraph, and then I rewrite that paragraph. I want to feel like I'm standing on firm ground before I move on to the next paragraph. Mentally, I have to do that.

Matt de la Pena

Lying, Moving, Writing

Source: therumpus.net

4 Copy quote
All that matters to me as a reader are characters. I want characters to be real, authentic, and rounded. I will be digging into characters for at least a month. Who they are. What they are like. Outside of the story.

Matt de la Pena

Real, Character, Digging

Source: therumpus.net

4 Copy quote
The Color Purple really floored me. That book was just incredible because I loved the language. The biggest deal of that book was that I loved the poetry of broken English. Broken English and vernacular. It just floored me that you can actually capture the way people really talked. And I also really connected to the social class element.

Matt de la Pena

Book, Color, Class

Source: therumpus.net

9 Copy quote
Growing up as a mixed-race kid myself, when you are in the middle of it and you're young...you don't think about it consciously. It's your reality.

Matt de la Pena

Growing Up, Kids, Reality

Source: therumpus.net

4 Copy quote

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Latest quotes from interviews

"I think we all try to figure out ways to ignore the fact that life is about suffering. In the modern world, that's what we're surrounded with. We have all these little tools, such as phones and the Internet, to help us forget about suffering. Whenever you are tired, you don't have to really sit in the abyss of what it means to be alive. We always find ways to avoid it. When a ship sinks, you are sitting in it. There is no way to avoid."

- Matt de la Pena,

therumpus.net, added Jan 10, 2016

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Matt de la Pena

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Born: September 9, 1951
Occupation: Writer
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