Eduardo Galeano Quotes

“No history is mute. No matter how much they own it, break it, and lie about it, human history refuses to shut its mouth. Despite deafness and ignorance, the time that was continues to tick inside the time that is.”
― Eduardo Galeano

“The Nobodies

Who are not, but could be.
Who don't speak languages, but dialects.
Who don't have religions, but superstitions.
Who don't create art, but handicrafts.
Who don't have culture, but folklore.
Who are not human beings, but human resources.
Who do not have faces, but arms.
Who do not have names, but numbers.
Who do not appear in the history of the world, but in the police
blotter of the local paper.
The nobodies, who are not worth the bullet that kills them.”
― Eduardo Galeano

“Those who make objectivity a religion are liars. they are scared of human pain. They dont want to be objective, it's a lie: they want to be objects, so as not to suffer.”
― Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces

“Me gusta la gente sentipensante,
que no separa la razón del corazón.
Que siente y piensa a la vez.
Sin divorciar la cabeza del cuerpo,
ni la emoción de la razón”
― Eduardo Galeano

“I can't sleep. There is a woman stuck between my eyelids. I would tell her to get out if I could. But there is a woman stuck in my throat.”
― Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces

“It has become unecesssary for the police to ban books: their price alone bans them.”
― Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces

“Fleas dream of buying themselves a dog,
and nobodies dream of escaping poverty:
that one magical day good luck will
suddenly rain on them-will rain
down in buckets. But good luck doesn’t
rain down yesterday, today, tomorrow,
or ever. Good luck doesn’t even fall in a
fine drizzle, no matter how hard the
nobodies summon it, even if their left
hand is tickling, or if they begin the new
day with their right foot, or start the
new year with a change of brooms.

The nobodies: nobody’s children,
owners of nothing. The nobodies: the no
ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits,
dying trough life, screwed every which
way.

Who are not, but could be. Who don’t
speak languages, but dialects. Who don’t
have religions, but superstitions. Who
don’t create art, but handicrafts. Who
don’t have culture, but folklore. Who are
not human beings, but human resources.
Who do not have faces, but arms. Who
do not have names, but numbers. Who
do not appear in the history of the
world, but in the police blotter of the
local paper. The nobodies, who are not
worth the bullet that kills them.”
― Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces

“La mala racha"
Mientras dura la mala racha pierdo todo. Se me caen las cosas de los bolsillos y de la memoria: pierdo llaves. lapiceras, dinero, documentos, nombres, caras, palabras. Yo no se si será gualicho de alguien que me quiere mal y me piensa peor, o pura casualidad, pero a veces el bajón demora en irse y yo ando de pérdida en pérdida, pierdo lo que encuentro, no encuentro lo que busco, y siento mucho miedo de que se me caiga la vida en alguna distracción.


"When Luck Runs Out”
During streaks of bad luck, I lose everything. Things fall out of my pockets and my memory: I lose keys, pens, money, documents, names, faces, words. I don’t know whether someone wishes me harm and has put the evil eye on me or whether it’s pure happenstance, but sometimes this slump just won’t end and I lose one thing after another. I lose what I find, I can’t find what I’m looking for, and I’m quite afraid of losing life through some little hole in my pocket.”

Eduardo Galeano: El libro de los abrazos (The Book of Embraces)”
― Eduardo Galeano

“Curious People

Soledad, five, daughter of Juanita Fernandez: “Why don’t dogs eat dessert?”
Vera, six, daughter of Elsa Villagra: “Where does night sleep? Does night sleep here under the bed?”
Luis, seven, son of Francisca Bermudez: “Will God be angry if I don’t believe in him? I don’t know how to tell him.”
Marcos, nine, son of Silvia Awad: “If God made himself, how did he make his back?”
Carlitos, forty, son of Maria Scaglione: “Mama, how old was I when you weaned me? My psychiatrist wants to know.”
― Eduardo Galeano, أفواه الزمن

“Y ya sé, también, porque me enteré, porque yo no sabía. que no estamos peleando solamente por un montón de cosas muy grandes y muy nobles. No es que quiera nada para mi, no. Es mucho más sencillo. Y fijate si sería bruto, digo yo, lo que demoré en enterarme. Años, años sin saber que también se podía estar en esto por la sonrisa triste de una mujer y por la cintura libre de revólver.”
― Eduardo Galeano

“Birçok insan ekmek bulamadığı için açlık çekmeye mahkûmdur; kucaklaşma yoksunluğu yüzünden gönül açlığı çekenlerin sayısı ise daha kabarık.”
― Eduardo Galeano, The Book of Embraces