Fred D'Aguiar > Quotes

“Any place where their thoughts are not allowed to stray is guarded by his voices steering them back to the permitted pastures. Any sadness or longing is immediately burned from the mind by the steady flame of his teachings in his voice. Sadness, depression, longings are luxuries. How can any sane mind be sad at the prospect of the kingdom of heaven, unless the sadness is merely impatience?”
― Fred D'Aguiar, Children of Paradise

“A child screams with joy and a child screams with pain, and the difference is in the timbre of that scream. Decibels of joy strike the inner ear differently from those of pain.”
― Fred D'Aguiar, Children of Paradise

“While the body may be trapped in this place, the mind is always free to roam wherever it feels safe.”
― Fred D'Aguiar, Children of Paradise

“The power of the preacher's command over the beast intrigues them more than the threat of imminent violence against one of their own, in part due to their desire for further proof of their leader's supreme ability to control events, from the smallest pleasures and luxuries of daily life to the ultimate promises of salvation.”
― Fred D'Aguiar, Children of Paradise

“against disease.”
― Fred D'Aguiar, Year of Plagues: A Memoir of 2020 – A Lyrical Exploration of Caribbean Identity, Cancer, and Hope