--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was growing up, the…" description: "\"When I was growing up, the Spanish-speaking world was Balkanized. We were isolated. We didn't know what was happening in cultural terms in Ecuador, Col..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb7/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_colombia_when-i-was-growing-up-the-spanish-speaki_240366.jpg" --- # When I was growing up, the Spanish-speaking world was… ![“When I was growing up, the Spanish-speaking world was Balkanized. We were isolated. We didn't know what was happening in cultural terms in Ecuador, Colombia and Chile. Nowadays, this has changed a lot - fortunately for writers and readers. There is much more integration.” quote by Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb7/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_colombia_when-i-was-growing-up-the-spanish-speaki_240366.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb7/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_colombia_when-i-was-growing-up-the-spanish-speaki_240366.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb7/mario-vargas-llosa-1493_colombia_when-i-was-growing-up-the-spanish-speaki_240366.jpg) > “When I was growing up, the Spanish-speaking world was Balkanized. We were isolated. We didn't know what was happening in cultural terms in Ecuador, Colombia and Chile. Nowadays, this has changed a lot - fortunately for writers and readers. There is much more integration.” [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Regional fragmentation once limited cultural exchange; now greater integration enriches writers and readers alike. **In simple terms:** Divided cultures now share more stories. Key Takeaway Embrace cross‑cultural dialogue. Themes culture integration literature Mood thoughtful hopeful Type literary analytical When to use this quote - publishing - education - translation - media - community building Key Concepts globalization regional identity Questions to Reflect On - How can writers preserve uniqueness while engaging globally? - What role does translation play in cultural exchange? A Different Perspective Integration can dilute distinct local voices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Colombia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colombia/) [Integration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integration/) [Spanish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spanish/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [MEMRI allows an audience far beyond the Arabic-speaking world to observe the wide variety of Arab voices speaking through the media, schoolbooks, and pulpits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holbrooke/memri-allows-an-audience-far-beyond-the-arabic-speaking-world-to/) [Richard Holbrooke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holbrooke/) > [The networks found themselves having to compete for an increasingly Balkanized audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-mudd/the-networks-found-themselves-having-to-compete-for-an-increasingly/) [Roger Mudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-mudd/) > [I am the only living person in the English speaking world who didn't have the Narnia books as a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tilda-swinton/i-am-the-only-living-person-in-the-english-speaking-world-who-didn-t/) [Tilda Swinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tilda-swinton/) > [“Microphones made me feel as if I were speaking to the whole world. 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Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-t-patterson/) > [The UK population became, for lack of a better term, Balkanized. And then all of a sudden Sharia mosques started popping up all over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-uk-population-became-for-lack-of-a-better-term-balkanized-and/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [“The English-Speaking world is divided into those who have read 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' and those who are going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-times/the-english-speaking-world-is-divided-into-those-who-have-read-the/) Sunday Times > [“His books commingled democratically, united under the all-inclusive flag of Literature. Some were vertical, some horizontal, and some actually placed behind others. Mine were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-fadiman/his-books-commingled-democratically-united-under-the-all-inclusive/) [Anne Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-fadiman/) > [In Colombia, education is sometimes considered a luxury, not a human right. And it's not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/in-colombia-education-is-sometimes-considered-a-luxury-not-a-human/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [I started the 1998 World Cup with Teddy Sheringham up front but always planned for Michael Owen to face Colombia in our final group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-hoddle/i-started-the-1998-world-cup-with-teddy-sheringham-up-front-but/) [Glenn Hoddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-hoddle/) > [As nearly two dozen Secret Service agents and members of the military were punished or fired following a 2012 prostitution scandal in Colombia, Obama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-d-leonnig/as-nearly-two-dozen-secret-service-agents-and-members-of-the-military/) Carol D. Leonnig > [The problem was that Panama technically belonged to Colombia, which refused to sign a treaty leasing it to the United States. So Roosevelt sent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/the-problem-was-that-panama-technically-belonged-to-colombia-which/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [It was shameful that, after Haiti, Colombia was the second most unequal country in Latin America. But we've achieved some things; the inequality is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-manuel-santos/it-was-shameful-that-after-haiti-colombia-was-the-second-most-unequal/) [Juan Manuel Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-manuel-santos/) ## More by Mario Vargas Llosa > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Nothing better protects a human being against the stupidity of prejudice, racism, religious or political sectarianism, and exclusivist nationalism than this truth that invariably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/nothing-better-protects-a-human-being-against-the-stupidity-of/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [I learnt to read when I was five, and I think that is the most important thing that happened to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-learnt-to-read-when-i-was-five-and-i-think-that-is-the-most/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Death isn't enough. It doesn't remove the stain. But a slap, a whiplash, square on the face, does. Because a man's face is as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/death-isn-t-enough-it-doesn-t-remove-the-stain-but-a-slap-a-whiplash/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The writer’s job is to write with rigor, with commitment, to defend what they believe with all the talent they have. I think that’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/the-writer-s-job-is-to-write-with-rigor-with-commitment-to-defend/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The truths that seem most truthful, if you look at them from all sides, if you look at them close up, turn out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/the-truths-that-seem-most-truthful-if-you-look-at-them-from-all-sides/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [That is one thing I am sure of amid my many uncertainties regarding the literary vocation: deep inside, a writer feels that writing is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/that-is-one-thing-i-am-sure-of-amid-my-many-uncertainties-regarding/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Revolution will free society of its afflictions, while science will free the individual of his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/revolution-will-free-society-of-its-afflictions-while-science-will/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [I think if you're impregnated with good literature, with good culture, you're much more difficult to manipulate, and you're much more aware of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-if-you-re-impregnated-with-good-literature-with-good-culture/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Each book, for me, has been an adventure, a period of time dedicated to study, to document certain facts, to traveling, and also to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/each-book-for-me-has-been-an-adventure-a-period-of-time-dedicated-to/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Reading good literature is an experience of pleasure...but it is also an experience of learning what and how we are, in our human integrity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/reading-good-literature-is-an-experience-of-pleasure-but-it-is-also/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“O comes o te comen, no hay más remedio.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/o-comes-o-te-comen-no-hay-m-s-remedio/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [“they knew what we’re doing for them, they’d kiss our feet. But mentally they are closer to the crocodile and the hippopotamus than to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/they-knew-what-we-re-doing-for-them-they-d-kiss-our-feet-but-mentally/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Iraq is better without Saddam Hussein than with Saddam Hussein. Without a doubt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/iraq-is-better-without-saddam-hussein-than-with-saddam-hussein/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [When I was young, when I started to write, we were totally convinced that literature was a kind of weapon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/when-i-was-young-when-i-started-to-write-we-were-totally-convinced/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) [Explore all 166 Mario Vargas Llosa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) ## More Colombia quotes > [It was shameful that, after Haiti, Colombia was the second most unequal country in Latin America. But we've achieved some things; the inequality is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-manuel-santos/it-was-shameful-that-after-haiti-colombia-was-the-second-most-unequal/) [Juan Manuel Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-manuel-santos/) > [The problem was that Panama technically belonged to Colombia, which refused to sign a treaty leasing it to the United States. So Roosevelt sent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/the-problem-was-that-panama-technically-belonged-to-colombia-which/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [As nearly two dozen Secret Service agents and members of the military were punished or fired following a 2012 prostitution scandal in Colombia, Obama…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-d-leonnig/as-nearly-two-dozen-secret-service-agents-and-members-of-the-military/) Carol D. Leonnig > [I started the 1998 World Cup with Teddy Sheringham up front but always planned for Michael Owen to face Colombia in our final group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-hoddle/i-started-the-1998-world-cup-with-teddy-sheringham-up-front-but/) [Glenn Hoddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-hoddle/) > [In Colombia, education is sometimes considered a luxury, not a human right. And it's not a priority in the agendas of many leaders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/in-colombia-education-is-sometimes-considered-a-luxury-not-a-human/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [May God fill this beautiful land of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador with his peace and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-luis-guerra/may-god-fill-this-beautiful-land-of-colombia-venezuela-and-ecuador/) [Juan Luis Guerra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-luis-guerra/) > [If my goal is to change Colombia, which it is because I really think Columbia has to change in many, many ways - I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ingrid-betancourt/if-my-goal-is-to-change-colombia-which-it-is-because-i-really-think/) [Ingrid Betancourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ingrid-betancourt/) > [The actual consequences of Plan Colombia are to devastate peasant communities, which have been driven to drug production. These peasants have no particular desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-actual-consequences-of-plan-colombia-are-to-devastate-peasant/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Alfredo Morelos is going to be a star for us. When you look at attitude he has and commitment he shows, he's ready to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radamel-falcao/alfredo-morelos-is-going-to-be-a-star-for-us-when-you-look-at/) [Radamel Falcao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radamel-falcao/) > [The left is being funded primarily by the drug traffickers who provide this tax money and that's why the guerrillas in Colombia, unlike the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alma-guillermoprieto/the-left-is-being-funded-primarily-by-the-drug-traffickers-who/) [Alma Guillermoprieto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alma-guillermoprieto/) > [Travelling to make television programmes means I have some unusual food memories. In Pasto, Colombia, I was taken to a restaurant where I chose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-dimbleby/travelling-to-make-television-programmes-means-i-have-some-unusual/) [Jonathan Dimbleby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-dimbleby/) > [In Colombia, where I was born and raised, women like my mother considered their appearance and personal grooming a matter of principle. There was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-garcia/in-colombia-where-i-was-born-and-raised-women-like-my-mother/) [Nina Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-garcia/) > [It's in the interest of the U.S. to maintain a strong democracy in Colombia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-manuel-santos/it-s-in-the-interest-of-the-u-s-to-maintain-a-strong-democracy-in/) [Juan Manuel Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-manuel-santos/) > [Colombia is in a risky position. They've got a peace process that's going nowhere, and a drug production problem that's skyrocketing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-mccaffrey/colombia-is-in-a-risky-position-they-ve-got-a-peace-process-that-s/) [Barry McCaffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-mccaffrey/) > [There is no logical basis for the prohibition of marijuana. $7.7 billion is a lot of money, but that is one of the lesser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/there-is-no-logical-basis-for-the-prohibition-of-marijuana-7-7/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) [Browse all 139 Colombia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colombia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was growing up, the Spanish-speaking world was Balkanized. We were isolated. We didn't know what was happening in cultural terms in Ecuador, Colombia and Chile. 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