--- title: "21 Long Quotes By Junot Diaz" description: "21 Long quotes by Junot Diaz. Plus more from Junot Diaz and more Long sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caf/junot-diaz-531_long_for-a-long-time-i-let-my-mother-say-what_2006224.jpg" --- > [For a long time, I let my mother say what she wanted about me, and what was worse, for a long time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/for-a-long-time-i-let-my-mother-say-what-she-wanted-about-me-and-what/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caf/junot-diaz-531_long_for-a-long-time-i-let-my-mother-say-what_2006224.jpg) > [We're accepted as long as we conform to what we are expected to be, and I'm sure that's not any different for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/we-re-accepted-as-long-as-we-conform-to-what-we-are-expected-to-be/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41d/junot-diaz-531_accepted_we-re-accepted-as-long-as-we-conform-to_1237116.jpg) > [Long before the idea of multiculturalism, in public people could say almost anything to you and get away with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/long-before-the-idea-of-multiculturalism-in-public-people-could-say/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d80/junot-diaz-531_almost_long-before-the-idea-of-multiculturalism_2485566.jpg) > [You're the only person I've ever met who can stand a bookstore as long as I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-re-the-only-person-i-ve-ever-met-who-can-stand-a-bookstore-as/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/junot-diaz-531_bookstores_you-re-the-only-person-i-ve-ever-met-who_989065.jpg) > [I guess it's true what they say: if you wait long enough everything changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-guess-it-s-true-what-they-say-if-you-wait-long-enough-everything/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccf/junot-diaz-531_enough_i-guess-it-s-true-what-they-say-if-you-w_3026845.jpg) > [Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-be-fundamentally-lost-for-a/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg) > [You ask everybody you know: How long does it usually take to get over it? There are many formulas. One year for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does-it-usually-take-to-get-over/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/420/junot-diaz-531_dated_you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does_13534.jpg) > [I wring my hands because I know that as a dude, my privilege, my long-term deficiencies work against me in writing women,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-wring-my-hands-because-i-know-that-as-a-dude-my-privilege-my-long/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/junot-diaz-531_deficiency_i-wring-my-hands-because-i-know-that-as_2894407.jpg) > [When I write, what I long for is not more realism or fiction but more courage. That's what I always find myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/when-i-write-what-i-long-for-is-not-more-realism-or-fiction-but-more/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/junot-diaz-531_achieve_when-i-write-what-i-long-for-is-not-more_1354558.jpg) > [In another universe I probably came out OK, ended up with mad novias and jobs and a sea of love in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/in-another-universe-i-probably-came-out-ok-ended-up-with-mad-novias/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/junot-diaz-531_black_in-another-universe-i-probably-came-out_1370751.jpg) > [ As an artist you're on a journey of discovery and sometimes that journey takes a long time, doesn't subscribe to \[a\] train… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/as-an-artist-you-re-on-a-journey-of-discovery-and-sometimes-that/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/junot-diaz-531_art_as-an-artist-you-re-on-a-journey-of-disc_2616424.jpg) > [The one thing about being a dude and writing from a female perspective is that the baseline is, you suck. The baseline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-writing-from-a-female/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/junot-diaz-531_female_the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-wri_19313.jpg) > [Well, when you look at a lot of science fiction novels they're asking questions about power. There are questions about what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/well-when-you-look-at-a-lot-of-science-fiction-novels-they-re-asking/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/junot-diaz-531_asking_well-when-you-look-at-a-lot-of-science-f_1684107.jpg) > [You must learn her. You must know the reason why she is silent. You must trace her weakest spots. You must write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-must-learn-her-you-must-know-the-reason-why-she-is-silent-you/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/junot-diaz-531_giving_you-must-learn-her-you-must-know-the-rea_1066210.jpg) > [Nilda is watching the ground as though she's afraid she might fall. My heart is beating and I think, We could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/nilda-is-watching-the-ground-as-though-she-s-afraid-she-might-fall-my/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/junot-diaz-531_coast_nilda-is-watching-the-ground-as-though-s_1153590.jpg) > [We're on speaking terms today. I say, Maybe we should hang out with the boys, and you shake your head. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/we-re-on-speaking-terms-today-i-say-maybe-we-should-hang-out-with-the/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/junot-diaz-531_arms_we-re-on-speaking-terms-today-i-say-mayb_654588.jpg) > [Usually at the end of each story we're thrown clear out of the story's world and then we're given a new world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/usually-at-the-end-of-each-story-we-re-thrown-clear-out-of-the-story/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/junot-diaz-531_ability_usually-at-the-end-of-each-story-we-re-t_1066244.jpg) > [There's nothing more true in being a child of a diaspora, a child of immigrants. We're completely new to our parents. We're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/there-s-nothing-more-true-in-being-a-child-of-a-diaspora-a-child-of/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/junot-diaz-531_accepted_there-s-nothing-more-true-in-being-a-chi_103539.jpg) > [ There's a long-term tradition of white supremacy in this country. \[Donald\] Trump isn't something entirely new. But then there is the crisis… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/there-s-a-long-term-tradition-of-white-supremacy-in-this-country/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/junot-diaz-531_color_there-s-a-long-term-tradition-of-white-s_1384925.jpg) > [A form wherein we can enjoy simultaneously what is best in both the novel and the short story form. My plan was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/a-form-wherein-we-can-enjoy-simultaneously-what-is-best-in-both-the/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/junot-diaz-531_ability_a-form-wherein-we-can-enjoy-simultaneous_654443.jpg) > [“After his initial homecoming week, after he'd been taken to a bunch of sights by his cousins, after he'd gotten somewhat used…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/after-his-initial-homecoming-week-after-he-d-been-taken-to-a-bunch-of/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b3/junot-diaz-531_brilliant-prose_after-his-initial-homecoming-week-after_598181.jpg) ## Other authors on Long ## More by Junot Diaz > [It might interest you that just as the U.S. was ramping up its involvement in Vietnam, LBJ launched an illegal invasion of the Dominican…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/it-might-interest-you-that-just-as-the-u-s-was-ramping-up-its/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Tell her that you love her hair, that you love her skin, her lips, because, in truth, you love them more than you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/tell-her-that-you-love-her-hair-that-you-love-her-skin-her-lips/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [It took me sixteen years to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/it-took-me-sixteen-years-to-write/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [You ask everybody you know: How long does it usually take to get over it? There are many formulas. One year for every year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does-it-usually-take-to-get-over/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Instead of finding himself in nerd heaven—where every nerd gets fifty-eight virgins to role-play with—he woke up in Robert Wood Johnson with two broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/instead-of-finding-himself-in-nerd-heaven-where-every-nerd-gets-fifty/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [The one thing about being a dude and writing from a female perspective is that the baseline is, you suck. The baseline is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-writing-from-a-female/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“I used to think those were the barrio rules, Latinos and blacks in, whites out —a place we down cats weren’t supposed to go.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-used-to-think-those-were-the-barrio-rules-latinos-and-blacks-in/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“I put my hand on her knee. I just wish you'd say you love me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-put-my-hand-on-her-knee-i-just-wish-you-d-say-you-love-me/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [I've always thought that you don't love a country by turning a blind eye to its crimes and to a problem. The way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-ve-always-thought-that-you-don-t-love-a-country-by-turning-a-blind/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“Called her a whore and attacked her walls, tearing down her posters and throwing her books everywhere. I found out because some whitegirl ran…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/called-her-a-whore-and-attacked-her-walls-tearing-down-her-posters/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [You're Dominican only if you do this, this, and that. And if you do this and that, you'll be accepted to a certain degree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-re-dominican-only-if-you-do-this-this-and-that-and-if-you-do-this/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“Ramfis fled the country after Trujillo's death, lived dissolutely off his father's swag, and ended up dying in a car crash of his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/ramfis-fled-the-country-after-trujillo-s-death-lived-dissolutely-off/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [If you didn't grow up like I did then you don't know, and if you don't know it's probably better you don't judge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/if-you-didn-t-grow-up-like-i-did-then-you-don-t-know-and-if-you-don-t/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“If you ask me I don't think there are any such things as curses. I think there is only life. That's enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/if-you-ask-me-i-don-t-think-there-are-any-such-things-as-curses-i/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [The only difference between a published and unpublished writer is a tolerance for imperfection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/the-only-difference-between-a-published-and-unpublished-writer-is-a/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/junot-diaz/#itemlist", "name": "21 Long Quotes By Junot Diaz", "numberOfItems": 21, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For a long time, I let my mother say what she wanted about me, and what was worse, for a long time I believed her.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": 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fundamentally lost for a very long time.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-be-fundamentally-lost-for-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f02/junot-diaz-531_art_any-art-worth-its-name-requires-you-to-b_1898857.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Any art worth its name requires you to be fundamentally lost for a very long time.” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You ask everybody you know: How long does it usually take to get over it? There are many formulas. One year for every year you dated. Two years for every year you dated. It's just a matter of will power: The day you decide it's over, it's over. You never get over it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does-it-usually-take-to-get-over/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/420/junot-diaz-531_dated_you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does_13534.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/420/junot-diaz-531_dated_you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does_13534.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/420/junot-diaz-531_dated_you-ask-everybody-you-know-how-long-does_13534.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You ask everybody you know: How long does it usually take to get over it? There are many formulas. One year…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I wring my hands because I know that as a dude, my privilege, my long-term deficiencies work against me in writing women, no matter how hard I try and how talented I am.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/i-wring-my-hands-because-i-know-that-as-a-dude-my-privilege-my-long/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/junot-diaz-531_deficiency_i-wring-my-hands-because-i-know-that-as_2894407.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/junot-diaz-531_deficiency_i-wring-my-hands-because-i-know-that-as_2894407.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/655/junot-diaz-531_deficiency_i-wring-my-hands-because-i-know-that-as_2894407.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I wring my hands because I know that as a dude, my privilege, my long-term deficiencies work against me in…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I write, what I long for is not more realism or fiction but more courage. That's what I always find myself short on and what I have to struggle to achieve in order that the work might live.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/when-i-write-what-i-long-for-is-not-more-realism-or-fiction-but-more/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/junot-diaz-531_achieve_when-i-write-what-i-long-for-is-not-more_1354558.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/junot-diaz-531_achieve_when-i-write-what-i-long-for-is-not-more_1354558.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/828/junot-diaz-531_achieve_when-i-write-what-i-long-for-is-not-more_1354558.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I write, what I long for is not more realism or fiction but more courage. That's what I always find…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In another universe I probably came out OK, ended up with mad novias and jobs and a sea of love in which to swim, but in this world I had a brother who was dying of cancer and a long dark patch of life like a mile of black ice waiting for me up ahead.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/in-another-universe-i-probably-came-out-ok-ended-up-with-mad-novias/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/junot-diaz-531_black_in-another-universe-i-probably-came-out_1370751.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/junot-diaz-531_black_in-another-universe-i-probably-came-out_1370751.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0d0/junot-diaz-531_black_in-another-universe-i-probably-came-out_1370751.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In another universe I probably came out OK, ended up with mad novias and jobs and a sea of love in which to…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As an artist you're on a journey of discovery and sometimes that journey takes a long time, doesn't subscribe to [a] train schedule, to the punch-clock. And I need to read a lot to make my pages happen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/as-an-artist-you-re-on-a-journey-of-discovery-and-sometimes-that/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/junot-diaz-531_art_as-an-artist-you-re-on-a-journey-of-disc_2616424.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/junot-diaz-531_art_as-an-artist-you-re-on-a-journey-of-disc_2616424.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a7d/junot-diaz-531_art_as-an-artist-you-re-on-a-journey-of-disc_2616424.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As an artist you're on a journey of discovery and sometimes that journey takes a long time, doesn't…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The one thing about being a dude and writing from a female perspective is that the baseline is, you suck. The baseline is it takes so long for you to work those atrophied muscles - for you to get on parity with what women's representations of men are.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-writing-from-a-female/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/junot-diaz-531_female_the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-wri_19313.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/junot-diaz-531_female_the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-wri_19313.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af5/junot-diaz-531_female_the-one-thing-about-being-a-dude-and-wri_19313.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The one thing about being a dude and writing from a female perspective is that the baseline is, you suck…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/well-when-you-look-at-a-lot-of-science-fiction-novels-they-re-asking/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/junot-diaz-531_asking_well-when-you-look-at-a-lot-of-science-f_1684107.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/junot-diaz-531_asking_well-when-you-look-at-a-lot-of-science-f_1684107.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/747/junot-diaz-531_asking_well-when-you-look-at-a-lot-of-science-f_1684107.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Well, when you look at a lot of science fiction novels they're asking questions about power. There are…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "You must learn her. You must know the reason why she is silent. You must trace her weakest spots. You must write to her. You must remind her that you are there. You must know how long it takes for her to give up. You must be there to hold her when she is about to. You must love her because many have tried and failed. And she wants to know that she is worthy to be loved, that she is worthy to be kept. And, this is how you keep her.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/you-must-learn-her-you-must-know-the-reason-why-she-is-silent-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/junot-diaz-531_giving_you-must-learn-her-you-must-know-the-rea_1066210.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/junot-diaz-531_giving_you-must-learn-her-you-must-know-the-rea_1066210.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/junot-diaz-531_giving_you-must-learn-her-you-must-know-the-rea_1066210.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You must learn her. You must know the reason why she is silent. You must trace her weakest spots. You must…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nilda is watching the ground as though she's afraid she might fall. My heart is beating and I think, We could do anything. We could marry. We could drive off to the West Coast. We could start over. It's all possible but neither of us speaks for a long time and the moment closes and we're back in the world we've always known.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/nilda-is-watching-the-ground-as-though-she-s-afraid-she-might-fall-my/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/junot-diaz-531_coast_nilda-is-watching-the-ground-as-though-s_1153590.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/junot-diaz-531_coast_nilda-is-watching-the-ground-as-though-s_1153590.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/junot-diaz-531_coast_nilda-is-watching-the-ground-as-though-s_1153590.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nilda is watching the ground as though she's afraid she might fall. My heart is beating and I think, We…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We're on speaking terms today. I say, Maybe we should hang out with the boys, and you shake your head. I want to spend time with you, you say. If we're still good, next week maybe. That's the most we can hope for. Nothing thrown, nothing said that we might remember for years. You watch me while you put a brush through your hair. Each strand that breaks is as long as my arm. You don't want to let go, but don't want to be hurt, either. It's not a great place to be but what can I tell you?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/we-re-on-speaking-terms-today-i-say-maybe-we-should-hang-out-with-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/junot-diaz-531_arms_we-re-on-speaking-terms-today-i-say-mayb_654588.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/junot-diaz-531_arms_we-re-on-speaking-terms-today-i-say-mayb_654588.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/junot-diaz-531_arms_we-re-on-speaking-terms-today-i-say-mayb_654588.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We're on speaking terms today. I say, Maybe we should hang out with the boys, and you shake your head. I…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Usually at the end of each story we're thrown clear out of the story's world and then we're given a new world to enter. What's unique about a linked collection is that it can deliver both sets of narrative pleasures - the novel's long immersion into character-world and the story anthology's energetic (and mortal) brevity - the linked collection is unique in its ability to be both abrupt and longitudinal simultaneously.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/usually-at-the-end-of-each-story-we-re-thrown-clear-out-of-the-story/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/junot-diaz-531_ability_usually-at-the-end-of-each-story-we-re-t_1066244.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/junot-diaz-531_ability_usually-at-the-end-of-each-story-we-re-t_1066244.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b8/junot-diaz-531_ability_usually-at-the-end-of-each-story-we-re-t_1066244.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Usually at the end of each story we're thrown clear out of the story's world and then we're given a new…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's nothing more true in being a child of a diaspora, a child of immigrants. We're completely new to our parents. We're not something they can ever understand. And it's not as if we are ever going to be accepted. We're accepted as long as we conform to what we are expected to be, and I'm sure that's not any different for anyone else.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/there-s-nothing-more-true-in-being-a-child-of-a-diaspora-a-child-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/junot-diaz-531_accepted_there-s-nothing-more-true-in-being-a-chi_103539.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/junot-diaz-531_accepted_there-s-nothing-more-true-in-being-a-chi_103539.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/427/junot-diaz-531_accepted_there-s-nothing-more-true-in-being-a-chi_103539.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's nothing more true in being a child of a diaspora, a child of immigrants. We're completely new to our…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's a long-term tradition of white supremacy in this country. [Donald] Trump isn't something entirely new. But then there is the crisis for white supremacy in this country now where you have people of color standing up for themselves in ways that they've never stood up for themselves or at least standing up for themselves in a generational, novel way.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/there-s-a-long-term-tradition-of-white-supremacy-in-this-country/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/junot-diaz-531_color_there-s-a-long-term-tradition-of-white-s_1384925.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/junot-diaz-531_color_there-s-a-long-term-tradition-of-white-s_1384925.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/junot-diaz-531_color_there-s-a-long-term-tradition-of-white-s_1384925.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's a long-term tradition of white supremacy in this country. [Donald] Trump isn't something entirely…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A form wherein we can enjoy simultaneously what is best in both the novel and the short story form. My plan was to create a book that affords readers some of the novel's long-form pleasures but that also contains the short story's ability to capture what is so difficult about being human - the brevity of our moments, their cruel irrevocability.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/a-form-wherein-we-can-enjoy-simultaneously-what-is-best-in-both-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/junot-diaz-531_ability_a-form-wherein-we-can-enjoy-simultaneous_654443.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/junot-diaz-531_ability_a-form-wherein-we-can-enjoy-simultaneous_654443.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c0/junot-diaz-531_ability_a-form-wherein-we-can-enjoy-simultaneous_654443.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A form wherein we can enjoy simultaneously what is best in both the novel and the short story form. My plan…” — Junot Diaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 21, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“After his initial homecoming week, after he'd been taken to a bunch of sights by his cousins, after he'd gotten somewhat used to the scorching weather and the surprise of waking up to the roosters and being called Huascar by everybody (that was his Dominican name, something else he'd forgotten), after he refused to succumb to that whisper that all long-term immigrants carry inside themselves, the whisper that says You do not belong , after he'd gone to about fifty clubs and because he couldn't dance salsa, merengue, or bachata had sat and drunk Presidentes while Lola and his cousins burned holes in the floor, after he'd explained to people a hundred times that he'd been separated from his sister at birth, after he spent a couple of quiet mornings on his own, writing, after he'd given out all his taxi money to beggars and had to call his cousin Pedro Pablo to pick him up, after he'd watched shirtless shoeless seven-year-olds fighting each other for the scraps he'd left on his plate at an outdoor cafe, after his mother took them all to dinner in the Zona Colonial and the waiters kept looking at their party askance (Watch out, Mom, Lola said, they probably think you're Haitian - La unica haitiana aqui eres tu, mi amor, she retorted), after a skeletal vieja grabbed both his hands and begged him for a penny, after his sister had said, You think that's bad, you should see the bateys, after he'd spent a day in Bani (the camp where La Inca had been raised) and he'd taken a dump in a latrine and wiped his ass with a corn cob - now that's entertainment, he wrote in his journal - after he'd gotten somewhat used to the surreal whirligig that was life in La Capital - the guaguas, the cops, the mind-boggling poverty, the Dunkin' Donuts, the beggars, the Haitians selling roasted peanuts at the intersections, the mind-boggling poverty, the asshole tourists hogging up all the beaches, the Xica de Silva novelas where homegirl got naked every five seconds that Lola and his female cousins were cracked on, the afternoon walks on the Conde, the mind-boggling poverty, the snarl of streets and rusting zinc shacks that were the barrios populares, the masses of niggers he waded through every day who ran him over if he stood still, the skinny watchmen standing in front of stores with their brokedown shotguns, the music, the raunchy jokes heard on the streets, the mind-boggling poverty, being piledrived into the corner of a concho by the combined weight of four other customers, the music, the new tunnels driving down into the bauxite earth [...]”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Junot Diaz" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/after-his-initial-homecoming-week-after-he-d-been-taken-to-a-bunch-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b3/junot-diaz-531_brilliant-prose_after-his-initial-homecoming-week-after_598181.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b3/junot-diaz-531_brilliant-prose_after-his-initial-homecoming-week-after_598181.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b3/junot-diaz-531_brilliant-prose_after-his-initial-homecoming-week-after_598181.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“After his initial homecoming week, after he'd been taken to a bunch of sights by his cousins, after he'd…” — Junot Díaz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/junot-diaz/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/junot-diaz/", "name": "Long Quotes by Junot Diaz", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/junot-diaz/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/caf/junot-diaz-531_long_for-a-long-time-i-let-my-mother-say-what_2006224.jpg" }, "description": "21 Long quotes by Junot Diaz. 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