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Junot Diaz Quotes

I act most like myself... when I’m in my hometown, Santo Domingo. I try to get there about five times a year Picture Quote #1

I can always tell if someone’s from Harvard because they trot out their vitae. I would die at Harvard Picture Quote #1

I love ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X.’ That was like the only black book we read in high school Picture Quote #1

My father was a Little League dictator. That really affected me, his control-freakery, his impunity, his arbitrary unreasonable power Picture Quote #1

New Jersey for me is so alive with history. It’s old, dynamic, African-American, Latino Picture Quote #1

When I read Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros as a freshman at Rutgers, it all clicked - that writing was all I wanted to do. It became my calling Picture Quote #1

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I think the average guy thinks they’re pro-woman, just because they think they’re a nice guy and someone has told them that they’re awesome. But the truth is far from it Picture Quote #1

A young person, or someone who’s writing in a different way - in some ways you could say, eventually someone will find them. Eventually someone will hear them. But it’s good a lot of young people persevere. Because sometimes you have to send something out a thousand times before anyone recognizes your value Picture Quote #1

Cities produce love and yet feel none. A strange thing when you think about it, but perhaps fitting. Cities need that love more than most of us care to imagine. Cities, after all, for all their massiveness, all their there-ness, are acutely vulnerable Picture Quote #1

For kind of sophisticated art I’m interested in, the larger structural rebuke has to be so subtle that it has to be distributed at an almost sub-atomic level. Otherwise, you fall into the kind of preachy, moralistic fable that I don’t think makes for good literature Picture Quote #1

I always had a sense that I would fall in love with Tokyo. In retrospect I guess it’s not that surprising. I was of the generation that had grown up in the 80s when Japan was ascendant (born aloft by a bubble whose burst crippled its economy for decades), and I’d fed on a steady diet of anime and samurai films Picture Quote #1

I have a very powerful sense of place, but I have a very powerful sense of being a migrant, so it’s both. It seems like I’m always leaving my home. That’s part of the formula. I love the Dominican Republic. I go back all the time. I love New Jersey. Go back all the time Picture Quote #1

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I mean in the community that I grew up in, you know, a very, you know, mixed, almost entirely African Diaspora community, one of the things that we were not ever supposed to say was how much self-hatred and colorism determined and guided what we would call our desire. In other words, what we would consider beautiful Picture Quote #1

I think there’s something really painful about your identity being entirely composed of ghosts. For me, I didn’t want to be this kid whose Dominicanness was something caught utterly in the past, is an abstraction, the thing that I write about. Instead I wanted it to be, first and foremost, a thing that I lived Picture Quote #1

I was part of that group of kids growing up in the 80s under the Reagan regime, what I used to call ‘living in the shadow of Dr. Manhattan,’ where we would have dreams all the time that New York City was being destroyed, and that that wall of light and destruction was rolling out and would just devour our neighborhood Picture Quote #1

I write for the people I grew up with. I took extreme pains for my book to not be a native informant. Not: ‘This is Dominican food. This is a Spanish word.’ I trust my readers, even non-Spanish ones Picture Quote #1

I write incredibly slowly. And, on top of that, I spent my entire youth and twenties working like a dog, so one of the things that happened when I finished ‘Drown’ was that I got busy living. I’d never travelled, I’d never seen anything. So I did as much travelling as my job teaching would allow Picture Quote #1

I’m one of those apocalyptics. From the start of my immigrant days, I’ve been fascinated by end-of-the-world stories, by outbreak narratives, and always wanted to set a world-ender on Hispaniola Picture Quote #1

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In fact, looking at the darkest sides of the United States has only made me appreciate the things that we do right, the things that we do beautifully. We are, for all of our mistakes and all of our crimes, a remarkable place Picture Quote #1

In minority communities there’s a sensitivity, often a knee-jerk reaction, to critical representations. There’s a misunderstanding of what an artist does Picture Quote #1

In the end, all worlds, whether they’re set in the future or in New Jersey of today, are fictions. Sure, you don’t got to do too much work to build a mundane world, but don’t get it twisted: you still got to do some work Picture Quote #1

John Carter was also one of our first recognizable superhumans and there is little doubt that his extraordinary physical feats inspired Superman’s creators. Remember: before Superman could fly or turn back time, he was nothing less than an earthbound crime-fighting John Carter in tights Picture Quote #1

Like most lit nerds, I’m a voracious reader. I never got enough poetry under my belt growing up but I do read it - some of my favorites, Gina Franco and Angela Shaw and Cornelius Eady and Kevin Young, remind me daily that unless the words sing and dance, what’s the use of putting them down on paper Picture Quote #1

My novel, which I had started with such hope shortly after publishing my first book of stories, wouldn’t budge past the 75-page mark. Nothing I wrote past page 75 made any kind of sense. Nothing. Which would have been fine if the first 75 pages hadn’t been pretty damn cool Picture Quote #1

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Stories are hard. I have friends who knock out stories on a weekly or monthly basis, like they’re running on medicinal-strength Updike. But for me a story is as daunting a prospect as a novel Picture Quote #1

We get so many people saying short fiction is not economical, that it doesn’t sell; but there are so many of us enjoying writing it and reading it. So it’s wonderful to be around people who love short fiction too - it’s like hanging around with my tribe Picture Quote #1

Well, when you look at a lot of science fiction novels they’re asking questions about power. There are questions about what it means to have power and what are the long-term consequences of power Picture Quote #1

You know, I was a kid who had difficulty speaking English when I first immigrated. But in my head, when I read a book, I spoke English perfectly. No one could correct my Spanish. And I think that I retreated to books as a way, you know, to be, like, masterful in a language that was really difficult for me for many years Picture Quote #1

Each morning, before Jackie started her studies, she wrote on a clean piece of paper: Tarde venientibus ossa. To the latecomers are left the bones Picture Quote #1

A first lesson in the fragility of love and the preternatural cowardice of men. And out of this disillusionment and turmoil sprang Beli’s first adult oath, one that would follow her into adulthood, to the States and beyond. I will not serve Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

I act most like myself... when I’m in my hometown, Santo Domingo. I try to get there about five times a year (Junot Diaz Quotes) I can always tell if someone’s from Harvard because they trot out their vitae. I would die at Harvard (Junot Diaz Quotes) I love ‘The Autobiography of Malcolm X.’ That was like the only black book we read in high school (Junot Diaz Quotes) My father was a Little League dictator. That really affected me, his control-freakery, his impunity, his arbitrary unreasonable power (Junot Diaz Quotes) New Jersey for me is so alive with history. It’s old, dynamic, African-American, Latino (Junot Diaz Quotes) When I read Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros as a freshman at Rutgers, it all clicked - that writing was all I wanted to do. It became my calling (Junot Diaz Quotes) I think the average guy thinks they’re pro-woman, just because they think they’re a nice guy and someone has told them that they’re awesome. But the truth is far from it (Junot Diaz Quotes) A young person, or someone who’s writing in a different way - in some ways you could say, eventually someone will find them. Eventually someone will hear them. But it’s good a lot of young people persevere. Because sometimes you have to send something out a thousand times before anyone recognizes your value (Junot Diaz Quotes) Cities produce love and yet feel none. A strange thing when you think about it, but perhaps fitting. Cities need that love more than most of us care to imagine. Cities, after all, for all their massiveness, all their there-ness, are acutely vulnerable (Junot Diaz Quotes) For kind of sophisticated art I’m interested in, the larger structural rebuke has to be so subtle that it has to be distributed at an almost sub-atomic level. Otherwise, you fall into the kind of preachy, moralistic fable that I don’t think makes for good literature (Junot Diaz Quotes) I always had a sense that I would fall in love with Tokyo. In retrospect I guess it’s not that surprising. I was of the generation that had grown up in the 80s when Japan was ascendant (born aloft by a bubble whose burst crippled its economy for decades), and I’d fed on a steady diet of anime and samurai films (Junot Diaz Quotes) I have a very powerful sense of place, but I have a very powerful sense of being a migrant, so it’s both. It seems like I’m always leaving my home. That’s part of the formula. I love the Dominican Republic. I go back all the time. I love New Jersey. Go back all the time (Junot Diaz Quotes) I mean in the community that I grew up in, you know, a very, you know, mixed, almost entirely African Diaspora community, one of the things that we were not ever supposed to say was how much self-hatred and colorism determined and guided what we would call our desire. In other words, what we would consider beautiful (Junot Diaz Quotes) I think there’s something really painful about your identity being entirely composed of ghosts. For me, I didn’t want to be this kid whose Dominicanness was something caught utterly in the past, is an abstraction, the thing that I write about. Instead I wanted it to be, first and foremost, a thing that I lived (Junot Diaz Quotes) I was part of that group of kids growing up in the 80s under the Reagan regime, what I used to call ‘living in the shadow of Dr. Manhattan,’ where we would have dreams all the time that New York City was being destroyed, and that that wall of light and destruction was rolling out and would just devour our neighborhood (Junot Diaz Quotes) I write for the people I grew up with. I took extreme pains for my book to not be a native informant. Not: ‘This is Dominican food. This is a Spanish word.’ I trust my readers, even non-Spanish ones (Junot Diaz Quotes) I write incredibly slowly. And, on top of that, I spent my entire youth and twenties working like a dog, so one of the things that happened when I finished ‘Drown’ was that I got busy living. I’d never travelled, I’d never seen anything. So I did as much travelling as my job teaching would allow (Junot Diaz Quotes) I’m one of those apocalyptics. From the start of my immigrant days, I’ve been fascinated by end-of-the-world stories, by outbreak narratives, and always wanted to set a world-ender on Hispaniola (Junot Diaz Quotes) In fact, looking at the darkest sides of the United States has only made me appreciate the things that we do right, the things that we do beautifully. We are, for all of our mistakes and all of our crimes, a remarkable place (Junot Diaz Quotes) In minority communities there’s a sensitivity, often a knee-jerk reaction, to critical representations. There’s a misunderstanding of what an artist does (Junot Diaz Quotes) In the end, all worlds, whether they’re set in the future or in New Jersey of today, are fictions. Sure, you don’t got to do too much work to build a mundane world, but don’t get it twisted: you still got to do some work (Junot Diaz Quotes) John Carter was also one of our first recognizable superhumans and there is little doubt that his extraordinary physical feats inspired Superman’s creators. Remember: before Superman could fly or turn back time, he was nothing less than an earthbound crime-fighting John Carter in tights (Junot Diaz Quotes) Like most lit nerds, I’m a voracious reader. I never got enough poetry under my belt growing up but I do read it - some of my favorites, Gina Franco and Angela Shaw and Cornelius Eady and Kevin Young, remind me daily that unless the words sing and dance, what’s the use of putting them down on paper (Junot Diaz Quotes) My novel, which I had started with such hope shortly after publishing my first book of stories, wouldn’t budge past the 75-page mark. Nothing I wrote past page 75 made any kind of sense. Nothing. Which would have been fine if the first 75 pages hadn’t been pretty damn cool (Junot Diaz Quotes) Stories are hard. I have friends who knock out stories on a weekly or monthly basis, like they’re running on medicinal-strength Updike. But for me a story is as daunting a prospect as a novel (Junot Diaz Quotes) We get so many people saying short fiction is not economical, that it doesn’t sell; but there are so many of us enjoying writing it and reading it. So it’s wonderful to be around people who love short fiction too - it’s like hanging around with my tribe (Junot Diaz Quotes) Well, when you look at a lot of science fiction novels they’re asking questions about power. There are questions about what it means to have power and what are the long-term consequences of power (Junot Diaz Quotes) You know, I was a kid who had difficulty speaking English when I first immigrated. But in my head, when I read a book, I spoke English perfectly. No one could correct my Spanish. And I think that I retreated to books as a way, you know, to be, like, masterful in a language that was really difficult for me for many years (Junot Diaz Quotes) Each morning, before Jackie started her studies, she wrote on a clean piece of paper: Tarde venientibus ossa. To the latecomers are left the bones (Junot Diaz Quotes) A first lesson in the fragility of love and the preternatural cowardice of men. And out of this disillusionment and turmoil sprang Beli’s first adult oath, one that would follow her into adulthood, to the States and beyond. I will not serve (Junot Diaz Quotes)

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