Artists are not cheerleaders, and we're not the heads of tourism boards. We expose and discuss what is problematic, what is contradictory, what is hurtful and what is silenced in the culture we're in.
Junot DiazRead
I always individuate myself from other writers who say they would die if they couldn't write. For me, I'd die if I couldn't read.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the value of reading as essential to one's existence, contrasting it with the act of writing.
Junot Diaz expresses that while many writers feel a deep connection to their craft, his own passion lies in reading. For him, the joy and necessity of engaging with stories and knowledge through reading is what sustains him, highlighting the importance of reading in literary and personal growth.
Themes
ReadingWritingLiteraturePassionKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on the importance of literature, I might say, 'As Junot Diaz reflects, I'd die if I couldn't read, emphasizing reading's vital role in our lives.'
More from Junot Diaz
All quotes βRun a hand through your hair, like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.
Junot DiazRead
I can see myself watching him shave every morning. And at other time I see us in that house and see how one bright day (or a day like this, so cold your mind shifts every time the wind does) he will wake up and decide it's all wrong. I'm sorry, he'll say. I have to leave now.
Junot DiazRead
Migration gives a blank cheque to put anything you don't feel like addressing in the memory hold. No neighbours can go against the monster narrative of your family.
Junot DiazRead
We all dream dreams of unity, of purity; we all dream that there's an authoritative voice out there that will explain things, including ourselves.
Junot DiazRead
I think 90% of my ideas evaporate because I have a terrible memory and because I seem to be committed to not scribble anything down. As soon as I write it down, my mind rejects it.
Junot DiazRead
Similar quotes
When you're learning, especially to write, unless you're some incredibly gifted writer, a young Malcom Gladwell, say, you need to be imitating people. You need to be imitating how they make their work, how they structure it, how they design the pieces. It gives you chops; it gives you moves.
Ira GlassRead
I think British journalists do well in America because the newspaper culture there is so strong - telling stories and presenting them readably is in their DNA. British newspapers get a terrible rap, but they are brilliant in their presentation, most of them, so full of vitality and literary wit.
Tina BrownRead
Few professors would dare to publish research or teach a course debunking the claims made in various ethnic, gender, or other 'studies' courses.
Thomas SowellRead
The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by imagining the shadows away. Do not try to hide your children from the world forever, but do not pretend there is no danger . Train them. Give them sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter. Make them dangerous. Make them yeast, and when theyβve grown, they will pollute the shadows.
N.D. WilsonRead
If I were again beginning my studies, I would follow the advice of Plato and start with mathematics.
Galileo GalileiRead
There are two ways of dealing with nonsense in this world. One way is to put nonsense in the right place; as when people put nonsense into nursery rhymes. The other is to put nonsense in the wrong place; as when they put it into educational addresses, psychological criticisms, and complaints against nursery rhymes or other normal amusements of mankind.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead