Artists are not cheerleaders, and we're not the heads of tourism boards. We expose and discuss what is problematic, what is contradictory, what is hurtful and what is silenced in the culture we're in.
Junot DiazRead
When I read Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros as a freshman at Rutgers, it all clicked - that writing was all I wanted to do. It became my calling.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the moment of realization and passion for writing that an author experienced after being inspired by other writers.
Junot Diaz reflects on a pivotal moment in his life when the works of Toni Morrison and Sandra Cisneros inspired him to pursue writing as his true calling. This revelation highlights the transformative power of literature and the profound impact that influential authors can have on emerging writers, leading them to understand their own passions and purpose.
Themes
WritingInspirationLiteratureCallingPassion
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop on writing careers, this quote can be used to inspire students to find their passion in writing.
More from Junot Diaz
All quotes βRun a hand through your hair, like the white boys do, even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.
Junot DiazRead
I can see myself watching him shave every morning. And at other time I see us in that house and see how one bright day (or a day like this, so cold your mind shifts every time the wind does) he will wake up and decide it's all wrong. I'm sorry, he'll say. I have to leave now.
Junot DiazRead
Migration gives a blank cheque to put anything you don't feel like addressing in the memory hold. No neighbours can go against the monster narrative of your family.
Junot DiazRead
We all dream dreams of unity, of purity; we all dream that there's an authoritative voice out there that will explain things, including ourselves.
Junot DiazRead
I think 90% of my ideas evaporate because I have a terrible memory and because I seem to be committed to not scribble anything down. As soon as I write it down, my mind rejects it.
Junot DiazRead
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The writer's duty is to keep on writing.
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I was interested in ideas, not merely visual products. I wanted to put painting once again at the service of the mind.
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The kind of poet who founds and reconstitutes values is somebody like Yeats or Whitman - these are public value-founders.
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