398 Quotes by Junot Díaz

We get these lives for free. I didn’t do anything to get this life, and no matter what the hardships are, it is free and, in a way, it’s an extraordinary bargain.

Ybon was the one who suggested calling the wait something else. Yeah, like what? Maybe, she said, you could call it life.

I write for the people I grew up with. I took extreme pains for my book to not be a native informant. Not: ‘This is Dominican food. This is a Spanish word.’ I trust my readers, even non-Spanish ones.

I’m having so much trouble with writing. Maybe if I help other people, it’ll be easier for me.

In fact, looking at the darkest sides of the United States has only made me appreciate the things that we do right, the things that we do beautifully. We are, for all of our mistakes and all of our crimes, a remarkable place.

Sadness at being caught, at the incontrovertibe knowledge that she will never forgive you.

I have three storage units, and that’s no lie. Three storage units. All books.

I do think that books are invaluable as a reservoir of what we call the human space. And this is why I think that, even if they're threatened, the work that they do has an incalculable merit.

Colleagues are a wonderful thing - but mentors, that's where the real work gets done.