When people ask me where my roots are, I look down at my feet, and I see the roots of my soul grasping the earth. They are here... in the Southwest... I still live in New Mexico.
Interpretation
This quote expresses a deep connection between one's identity and their physical environment.
Rudolfo Anaya's quote reflects the profound relationship between a person's sense of self and their geographical roots. He illustrates how the physical landscape, in his case the Southwest and New Mexico, shapes one's soul and identity, suggesting that our surroundings play a vital role in who we are at a fundamental level.
In practice
This quote can be used during a community gathering to emphasize the importance of one's heritage.
There are many gods . . . gods of beauty and magic, gods of the garden, gods in our own backyards, but we go off to foreign countries to find new ones, we reach to the stars to find new ones--. . . . The god of the church is a jealous god; he cannot live in peace with other gods.
It is because good is always stronger than evil. Always remember that, Antonio. The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge triumphant.
Understanding comes with life. As a man grows he sees life and death, he is happy and sad, he works, plays, meets people - sometimes it takes a lifetime to acquire understanding, because in the end understanding simply means having sympathy for people.
Not because Socrates said so, but because it is in truth my own disposition — and perchance to some excess — I look upon all men as my compatriots, and embrace a Pole as a Frenchman, making less account of the national than of the universal and common bond.
Fear Allah, for that is fortune; indifference to Allah is misfortune.
I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use these words
Too much openness and you accept every notion, idea, and hypothesis-which is tantamount to knowing nothing. Too much skepticism-especially rejection of new ideas before they are adequately tested-and you're not only unpleasantly grumpy, but also closed to the advance of science. A judicious mix is what we need.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.
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