Zoé Valdés > Quotes

“Traveling with a man is traveling alone.”
― Zoe Valdes

“Why is it called tierra and not tierro? Why is it round, like two breasts sewn together, like the two halves of an orange—a naranja—or the belly of a pregnant woman, and has never had any phallic tendencies, even while it was first forming? Why do we say naturaleza, in the feminine, and not naturalezo? Why did the old poets prefer to write la mar and not el mar, the way most people do today? Why is it la noche, night, la madrugada, dawn, la soledad, solitude, la ternura, tenderness, la felicidad, happiness, la luz, light, la luna, the moon, las constelaciones, the constellations, la voz, a person’s voice, las caricias, caresses, las flores, flowers, la melancolía, melancholy? Why would it seem that the really poetic words are in the feminine? But that’s nonsense. Mentira, lie, is feminine, and that’s not so poetic. And there are lots of poetic words that are masculine: el cielo, the sky, el alba, another word for dawn, el misterio, mystery, el desea, desire, el parto, childbirth, el bien, good as opposed to evil. And speaking of evil, that’s masculine in gender, el mal, and so is power, el poder. Although we shouldn’t forget el querer, loving, a word that belongs to the strategy of desire. And also has a little bit of goodness in it. Bondad, goodness, is a very pretty word, and very feminine—it’s conjugated in the feminine. On the other hand, muerte, death, which is feminine, no matter how she gets herself up to look attractive and profound, could she ever seduce anyone?”
― Zoé Valdés, Dear First Love

“July 11. She had always liked those numbers, seven and eleven. In charada, the mystical significance of dream images. There were charadas all around the world. In the santería charada, Angayú was eleven and Yemayá was seven. In the Cuban charada, matchbox was eleven and excrement was seven. In the American one, mechanic shop was eleven and socks was seven. In the Chinese one, rooster was eleven and seashell, seven. In the Texas charada, horse was eleven and hog, seven. In the Indian charada, rain was eleven and sleep was seven. In the Aztec charada, factory was eleven and mariachis, seven.”
― Zoé Valdés, Dear First Love

“it’s poetry that’s taught me everything I know. Poetry has shown me the world; I owe a debt of gratitude to poetry for the love I feel for nature, the earth, the trees, the ocean. Before I had read any poetry I resembled nothing so much as a blind woman—and a mute one, too, because I had no idea how to put my thoughts in order, no idea how to speak, the words wouldn’t come. Poetry taught me how to talk.”
― Zoé Valdés, Dear First Love

“Kada neko dođe sa namerom da ti nešto ukrade, on prigrabi šta god mu staviš nadomak ruke, makar i majušnu stvar.”
― Zoé Valdés, La mujer que llora

“Krivi smo čim se rodimo, svakim svojim postupkom labavimo uže koje će otpustiti giljotinu, da nam glave padnu na slamu istorije.”
― Zoé Valdés, La nada cotidiana

“Muškarci se oporave od rastanka mnogo brže nego žene. Žena umire prilikom svakog rastanka. Muškarac se nakon svakog rastanka preporodi.”
― Zoé Valdés, La mujer que llora

“permití que el ostracismo y la amargura se adueñaran de mi existencia.”
― Zoé Valdés, La eternidad del instante

“Solo leer y viajar nos hace sabio”
― Zoé Valdés, La eternidad del instante

“No empañes las palabras con hipócritas silencios censuradores.”
― Zoé Valdés, La eternidad del instante

“Strah muškarce parališe, a žene pokreće.”
― Zoé Valdés

“Las palabras alivian y los silencios sanan.”
― Zoé Valdés, La eternidad del instante