15 Quotes by Latina Writers that Empower, Uplift and Inspire

So often we face the kinds of challenges or sadness that set us back. They make us rethink our ideals and either resolve to continue on our paths or set out on a new one. But no matter what we choose, we know (or at least hope) that things will turn out for the best.

Other times we are faced with such profound loss, frightening change and monumental disappointment that the comfort of knowing that everything will be ok feels almost impossible to hold on to. Hope seems too distant to count on.

It’s at these times that I find inspiration and empowerment in wise women. Specifically, I look to our writers, poets and other brilliant Latinas who faced countless hardships in hostile spaces and yet told the stories and wrote the poems that helped others to rise.

These 15 inspirational quotes help me hold on to the belief in a better tomorrow, and I hope they do the same for you.

My weapon has always been language, and I’ve always used it, but it has changed. Instead of shaping the words like knives now, I think they’re flowers, or bridges. ­–Sandra Cisneros

Though we tremble before uncertain futures, may we meet illness, death and adversity with strength. May we dance n the face of our fears. –Gloria Anzaldúa

The point is not to pay back kindness, but to pass it on. –Julia Alvarez

Whoever controls information, whoever controls meaning, acquires power. –Laura Esquivel

What you perceive as “liberal” is my independence to choose what I do, with whom and when. Moreover, it also means that I may choose not to do it, with anyone, ever. –Ana Castillo

Nowadays, hoy en día, with our world full of war and violence and lack of love, a world full of greed, a world full of domination, grasping power, venal stupidity, real evil, don’t get me started, it’s good to know that a conversation about tacos will always engender a sense of comfort and happiness. If we could only sit down at a big, round world table and eat tacos in a spirit of love, we might begin to work on world peace. –Denise Chavez

We are always going to have prejudices … I don’t think we can change society. You can only change individual by individual. And you can change yourself. –Esmeralda Santiago

You only have what you give. It’s by spending yourself that you become rich. –Isabel Allende

The sacred is not in heaven or far away. It is all around us, and small human rituals can connect us to its presence. And of course, the greatest challenge (and gift) is to see the sacred in each other. –Alma Luz Villanueva

A woman who writes has power, and a woman with power is feared. –Gloria Anzaldúa

What I didn’t understand–what I suddenly realize now–was that if I stopped moving backwards, trying to recapture the past, there might be a future waiting for me, waiting for us, a future that would reveal itself if only I turned around and looked, and that once I did, I could start to move toward it. –Cristina Henriquez

Lead image by Giuseppe Milo via Creative Commons.