--- title: "1 Words Changed Quotes By Cristina Henriquez" description: "1 Words Changed quotes by Cristina Henriquez. Plus more from Cristina Henriquez and more Words Changed sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/cristina-henriquez-22273_english_english-was-such-a-dense-tight-language_3177559.jpg" --- > [“English was such a dense, tight language. So many hard letters, like miniature walls. Not open with vowels the way Spanish was. Our throats open, our mouths open, our hearts open. In English, the sounds were closed. They thudded to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/english-was-such-a-dense-tight-language-so-many-hard-letters-like/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/cristina-henriquez-22273_english_english-was-such-a-dense-tight-language_3177559.jpg) ## More by Cristina Henriquez > [“And then again, maybe people and things are the same as emotions: Even when you can't see them or feel them or be with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/and-then-again-maybe-people-and-things-are-the-same-as-emotions-even/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“Is this what school was like in the United States? It was like theater.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/is-this-what-school-was-like-in-the-united-states-it-was-like-theater/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“But I worry what it would be like after all this time. We thought it was unrecognizable when we left, but I have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/but-i-worry-what-it-would-be-like-after-all-this-time-we-thought-it/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“I understood how easily and how quickly things could be snatched away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/i-understood-how-easily-and-how-quickly-things-could-be-snatched-away/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“What if God wants us to be happy? What if there’s nothing else around the bend? What if all our unhappiness is in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/what-if-god-wants-us-to-be-happy-what-if-there-s-nothing-else-around/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“No one here wants to admit it, but the United States is part of México’s problem. The United States is feeding the beast, man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/no-one-here-wants-to-admit-it-but-the-united-states-is-part-of-m-xico/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“Americanah; Ayad Akhtar, American Dervish; Julia Alvarez, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents; Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street; Junot Díaz, The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/americanah-ayad-akhtar-american-dervish-julia-alvarez-how-the-garcia/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“Armando's not a pork chop, I say. She shrugs. At least a pork chop would feed you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/armando-s-not-a-pork-chop-i-say-she-shrugs-at-least-a-pork-chop-would/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“Who could think that a person’s entire being is housed in a finger or in a hip bone or in a small piece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/who-could-think-that-a-person-s-entire-being-is-housed-in-a-finger-or/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“Maybe it’s the instinct of every immigrant, born of necessity or of longing: Someplace else will be better than here. And the condition: if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/maybe-it-s-the-instinct-of-every-immigrant-born-of-necessity-or-of/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“But it was only a word—justice. It was only a concept, and it wasn’t enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/but-it-was-only-a-word-justice-it-was-only-a-concept-and-it-wasn-t/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“I felt the way I often felt in this country - simultaneously conspicuous and invisible, like an oddity whom everyone noticed but chose to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/i-felt-the-way-i-often-felt-in-this-country-simultaneously/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“ I saw us from above, from the sky, two flecks of being connected at the edge of the wide, pale ocean, lost to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/i-saw-us-from-above-from-the-sky-two-flecks-of-being-connected-at-the/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“I couldn't swallow. It had to be wrong. We had to be able to rewind. It couldn't be real. It felt so weightless. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/i-couldn-t-swallow-it-had-to-be-wrong-we-had-to-be-able-to-rewind-it/) [cristina henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) > [“And yet, what else could he do but try the next”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-henriquez/and-yet-what-else-could-he-do-but-try-the-next/) [Cristina Henriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-henriquez/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-changed/cristina-henriquez/#itemlist", "name": "1 Words Changed Quotes By Cristina Henriquez", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“English was such a dense, tight language. So many hard letters, like miniature walls. Not open with vowels the way Spanish was. Our throats open, our mouths open, our hearts open. In English, the sounds were closed. They thudded to the floor. And yet, there was something magnificent about it. Profesora Shields explained that in English there was no usted, no tu. There was only one word—you. It applied to all people. No one more distant or more familiar. You. They. Me. I. Us. We. There were no words that changed from feminine to masculine and back again depending on the speaker. A person was from New York. Not a woman from New York, not a man from New York. 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