I tore up and ate my own passport in an airport hotel once. I'm bloated with language I can’t afford to forget.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the idea of identity and the burdens of language in the context of belonging and displacement.
Warsan Shire's quote speaks to the complexities of identity and the emotional weight that language carries for individuals, particularly those who may feel disconnected from their homeland or culture. By tearing up her passport, Shire symbolizes a desire to break free from the constraints of national identity, while simultaneously acknowledging that the languages we speak shape our memories and experiences, making them inescapable parts of who we are.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of cultural heritage, one might say, 'Like Warsan Shire, we must embrace our languages and the memories they hold.'
I’m not sad, but the boys who are looking for sad girls always find me. I’m not a girl anymore and I’m not sad anymore. You want me to be a tragic backdrop so that you can appear to be illuminated, so that people can say ‘Wow, isn't he so terribly brave to love a girl who is so obviously sad?’ You think I’ll be the dark sky so you can be the star? I’ll swallow you whole.
We took such care of tomorrow, but died on the way there.
Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and repeat.
Every mouth you’ve ever kissed was just practice. All the bodies you’ve ever undressed and ploughed in to were preparing you for me. I don’t mind tasting them in the memory of your mouth. _x000D_ Was it a long journey? Did it take you long to find me? _x000D_ You’re here now, welcome home.
Make peace with your body, it's not manmade, there are no flaws, there are no mistakes.
You can't make homes out of human beings.
Those who speak much are blamed, those who speak little are blamed. In this world there are none who are not blamed. Try not to blame.
It is possible to demonstrate God's existence, although not a priori, yet a posteriori from some work of His more surely known to us.
The Little Mute Boy The little boy was looking for his voice. (The king of the crickets had it.) In a drop of water the little boy was looking for his voice. I do not want it for speaking with; I will make a ring of it so that he may wear my silence on his little finger In a drop of water the little boy was looking for his voice. (The captive voice, far away, put on a cricket's clothes.) Translated by William S. Merwin
Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should. Happy Fourth of July.
As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore, I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher.
I'm not the poorest president. The poorest is the one who needs a lot to live. My lifestyle is a consequence of my wounds. I'm the son of my history. There have been years when I would have been happy just to have a mattress.
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