One of the things Thich Nhat Hanh taught me: he says, "When you're in a hurry, go slower." That works every time, unless you're trying to catch a plane. Sandra Cisneros More Quotes by Sandra Cisneros More Quotes From Sandra Cisneros I know there are a lot of women who are afraid of driving on highways. Sandra Cisneros driving-onhighwaysdriving I hope I'm not just looked as a writer that is popular but as a writer of literary value. Sandra Cisneros values When we started publishing, you had to be better than good. You had to be excellent. But as long as people are reading, I don't care what they're reading. Sandra Cisneros readinglongpeople When you become a driver, they don't tell you that you have to switch languages. The drivers have their own language and they don't tell you that as girls. How am I supposed to know that blinking light means something? There are all these little languages that you have to know, but you don't know. Sandra Cisneros girllightmean You know how they say, "Find your voice"? That's your voice, in your pajamas. And it doesn't mean that you're going to publish it or print it or people are going to see you in your pajamas. It just means you are going to construct the foundation in your pajamas, in that voice. Sandra Cisneros voicemeanpeople One press account said I was an overnight success. I thought that was the longest night I've ever spent. Sandra Cisneros self-respectsaidnight The stories are what no one wants to talk about. So you make up a story because no one is going to tell you the truth. Sandra Cisneros storieswant She became politically conscious thanks to Studs Terkel and the radio. She started reading all the books we brought home from college and was a great fan of Noam Chomsky. She was a real lefty and yet was not able to meet her dream of becoming an artist. She got drafted into motherhood big time - seven kids - and that wasn't the life that she had planned. So she opened the path so that I could be the artist that she wanted to be. Sandra Cisneros realdreambook I can't stand it when people say, "If you're writing a novel, you should read this and that." Because it's like giving someone another person's prescription. How do you know that's what they need? Sandra Cisneros writinggivingpeople I'm just as unhappy about San Antonio as I was about Chicago. If you're unhappy about certain things, you're unhappy everywhere. Sandra Cisneros san-antoniochicagounhappy Don't be afraid to say what you don't know, and speak for what you do know. Say, "I can't speak for all Latinas, but I can speak for me and tell you very, very honestly." Sandra Cisneros latinahonestlyspeak Even if you don't believe in God, you have to believe in love. Sandra Cisneros believe-in-godifsbelieve What I've learned is, if I have to go out and speak, the best way to get people's attention is to tell them a story, tell them a story that came from my corazón. Sandra Cisneros storiesattentionpeople Even my mom. I have to tell her, "If you want a snack, don't go to bed with potato chips. Eat a handful of pistachios and a handful of dates." Sandra Cisneros snacksbedmom I never know what something is going to be until it emerges from the womb and you see the crown of its head and then you see it pushing its way up. So in my life if another book wants to be born it's not for me to choose. Sandra Cisneros crownswantbook You know, you want to be outrageous when you're young, so all the young people say, "Oooh . . ." Now my tactics are different. Sandra Cisneros tacticsdifferentpeople My readers are as diverse as any group you will ever see. Something that booksellers always tell me. That they are always surprised at the kind of people that come to my readings. That they are such a mix of ages and colors. It looks like people spilling out of an elevator. Sandra Cisneros colorreadingpeople I was looking at a lot of experimental writers, and I was very intrigued by short-short fiction, writers who would write little things, what I call buttons now, little vignettes. Sandra Cisneros buttonswritingfiction If you start thinking about who's going to read it [you're writing], or what grade will you get, or is it going to win that award, or are you going to get into this graduate program, you're blocking the light, and the light is that guidance and love we get when we open up our hearts and are guided by our higher selves, or God, or the Buddha Lupe [Buddha and the Virgin of Guadalupe fused together, as they are in the tattoo on Sandra's right arm], or whatever you believe in, or love. Sandra Cisneros blocktattoobelieve [Jorge Luis Borges] had short stories, and I was trying to learn how to write short stories, and then he had these things in the middle that were like fables, and I loved hearing fables. Sandra Cisneros storieswritingtrying
