Touching on universality is an important part of effective storytelling, but the problem with cliches is that they are tired and dull. And that's where writers must try to be artful. — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
I don't believe in nationalism. I think it's a bunch of slogans. It's a bunch of poor attempts at creating pride. My problem with nationalism is that it becomes exclusionary. We start to exclude people. — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
“Here, need blurs the line between good and bad, and a constant promise of random violence sticks like humidity down your back.” — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
“He fidgets. Thinks. Observes his fellow passengers. Judges everyone, in the traditional Filipino sport of justifying both personal and shared insecurities.” — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
When I was young, I spent my days and nights trying to impress future generations. I spent them. They're gone. All because I was… — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
You can’t bring an unwritten place to life without losing something substantial. Manila is the cradle, the graveyard, the memory. The Mecca, the Cathedral,… — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
“A man's life is all he has. When you're old, it's all you'll ever have.” — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
“A father must take credit for his child, but never a child for his father.” — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
I surprise myself that I'm not dead in the gutter somewhere, surprised that I haven't given up. — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
“We liked to believe there is an alternate world, a better world, populated entirely by characters created by the yearnings of humanity--governing and inspiring… — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
I have to believe that literature can effect change; otherwise, I would have no purpose in my life and would have wasted four years… — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
I don't see myself as any different from all the other Filipinos who have gone abroad looking for opportunity, to be a nurse, a… — Miguel Syjuco Copy Share Image
