30 December 2014 Journal Page

The world lost a great writer on Monday, Eduardo Galeano passed away. The Book of Embraces is one of my favorites. I have others by him piled by my bed and added to wishlists. I'll pick up his books in bookstores, even ones that I already own, and flip through knowing that something will jump out at me. I'll leave his words here for you to possibly ponder:

"When it is genuine, when it is born of the need to speak, no one can stop the human voice. When denied a mouth, it speaks with the hands or the eyes, or the pores, or anything at all. Because every single one of us has something to say to the others, something that deserves to be celebrated or forgiven by others."

"History never really says goodbye. History says, see you later."

"I would recognise myself in each of his translations and he would feel betrayed and annoyed whenever I didn't write something the way he would have. A part of me died with him, a part of him lives with me."

"I believe in the diversity of the human condition. The best thing about the world is the amount of worlds it has."

"It's a system of power that is always deciding in the name of humanity who deserves to be remembered and who deserves to be forgotten … We are much more than we are told. We are much more beautiful." 

-Eduardo Galeano 1940-2015