Jose Marti
Born José Julián Martí y Pérez, he was a Cuban nationalist leader and an important figure in Latin American literature. During his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a professor, and a political theorist. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba's bid for independence against Spain in the 19th century, and is referred to as El Apóstol; "Apostle of Cuban Independence". He also fought against the threat of United States expansionism into Cuba.
“Porque usted sabe, general, que mover un país, por pequeño que sea, es obra de gigantes. Y quien no se sienta gigante de amor, o de valor, o de pensamiento, o de paciencia, no debe emprenderla”
Jose Marti
“Cultivo una rosa blanca,En julio como en enero,Para el amigo sinceroQue me da su mano franca.Y para el cruel que me arrancaEl corazon con que vivo,Cardo ni oruga cultivoCultivo una rosa blanca.I have a white rose to tendIn July as in January;I give it to the true friendWho offers his frank hand to me.And to the cruel one whose blowsBreak the heart by which I live,Thistle nor thorn do I give:For him, too, I have a white rose.”
Jose Marti
“Mientras mas honda la herida,Es mi canto mas hermoso.While more deeper is the woundThe more beautiful the art.”
Jose Marti
“Mucho, señora, daríaPor tender sobre tu espaldaTu cabellera bravía,Tu cabellera de gualda:Despacio la tendería,Callado la besaría.Por sobre la oreja finaBaja lujoso el cabello,Lo mismo que una cortinaQue se levanta hacia el cuello.La oreja es obra divinaDe porcelana de China.Mucho, señora, te dieraPor desenredar el nudoDe tu roja cabelleraSobre tu cuello desnudo:Muy despacio la esparciera,Hilo por hilo la abriera”
Jose Marti
“Amor cuerdo, no es amor. (Sane love, is not love)”
Jose Marti
“Es como la elegancia, mi María, que está en el buen gusto, y no en el costo. La elegancia del vestido,-la grande y verdadera,-está en la altivez y fortaleza del alma. Un alma honrada, inteligente y libre, da al cuerpo más elegancia, y más poderío a la mujer, que las modas más ricas de las tiendas. Mucha tienda, poca alma. Quien tiene mucho adentro, necesita poco afuera. Quien lleva mucho afuera, tiene poco adentro, y quiere disimular lo poco. Quien siente su belleza, la belleza interior, no busca afuera belleza prestada: se sabe hermosa, y la belleza hecha echa luz.”
Jose Marti
“Por las mañanasMi pequeñueloMe despertabaCon un gran beso.Puesto a horcajadasSobre mi pecho,Bridas forjabaCon mis cabellos.Ebrio él de gozo,De gozo yo ebrio,Me espoleabaMi caballero:¡Qué suave espuelaSus dos pies frescos!¡Cómo reíaMi jinetuelo!Y yo besabaSus pies pequeños,¡Dos pies que cabenEn solo un beso!”
Jose Marti
“Every human being has within him an ideal man, just as every piece of marble contains in a rough state a statue as beautiful as the one that Praxiteles the Greek made of the god Apollo.”
Jose Marti
“Yo vengo de todas partes,Y hacia todas partes voy”
Jose Marti
“Life on earth is hand-to-hand mortal combat . . . between the law of love and the law of hate.”
Jose Marti
“Day and night I always dream with open eyes.”
Jose Marti
“Los Pueblos tienen los Gobiernos que se merecen.”
Jose Marti
“Dicen que murió de frío. Yo sé que murió de amor.”
Jose Marti
“El amor, madre, a la patriano es el amor ridículo a la tierra,ni a la yerba que pisan nuestras plantas;Es el odio invencible a quien la oprime,es el rencor eterno a quien la ataca”
Jose Marti
“In this world, there must be a certain degree of honor just as there must be a certain amount of light. When there are many men without honor, there will always be some others who bear in themselves the honor of many men.”
Jose Marti
“To Educate is to Free.”
Jose Marti
“Books console us, calm us, prepare us, enrich us and redeem us.”
Jose Marti
“i El deber de un hombre es estar allí, donde es mas útil!”
Jose Marti
“Man has to suffer. When he has no real afflictions, he invents some.”
Jose Marti
“Others go to bed with their mistresses; I with my ideas.”
Jose Marti
“A child who does not think about what happens around him and is content with living without wondering whether he lives honestly is like a man who lives from a scoundrel's work and is on the road to being a scoundrel.”
Jose Marti
“But love, like the sun that it is, sets afire and melts everything. what greed and privilege to build up over whole centuries the indignation of a pious spirit, with its natural following of oppressed souls, will cast down with a single shove.”
Jose Marti
“The first duty of a man is to think for himself”
Jose Marti
“Yo he visto en la noche oscura llover sobre mi cabeza los rayos de lumbra pura de la divina belleza.”
Jose Marti
“Vivi dentro del monstro y conozco sus entranas”
Jose Marti
“Todo es hermoso y constante,Todo es música y razón,Y todo, como el diamante,Antes que luz es carbón.”
Jose Marti
“The truthe wakes up once and never dies.”
Jose Marti
“We light the oven so that everyone may bake bread in it.”
Jose Marti
“A grain of poetry suffices to season a century.”
Jose Marti