In English, my name means hope. In Spanish, it means too many letters. It means sadness. It means waiting. It is like the number nine, a muddy color.

I've put up with too much, too long, and now I'm just too intelligent, too powerful, too beautiful, too sure of who I am finally to deserve anything less.

I am obsessed with becoming a woman comfortable in her skin.

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.

You can't erase what you know. You can't forget who you are.

The beauty of literature is you allow readers to see things through other peoples eyes. All good books do this.

'Hispanic' is English for a person of Latino origin who wants to be accepted by the white status quo. 'Latino' is the word we have always used for ourselves.

If you know two cultures and two languages, that intermediate place, where the two don't perfectly meet, is really interesting.

People know when you're speaking from el corazón. You have that pain. Take that pain and do something with it. That's very powerful.

The world we live in is a house on fire and the people we love are burning.

You don't want somebody who doesn't know his own heart, do you? You'll find someone who's brave enough to love you. Someday. One day. Not today.

I am very happyBecause I have conquered myselfAnd not the world.I am very happyBecause I have loved the worldAnd not myself.

Stand at the crossroads if you will, but if you'll not choose, I'll move on without you

Disability is not what we see or appear, it is all about not doing what one really wanted to do...

I believe that this neglected wounded inner child of the past is the major source of human misery.

There is nothing I need so much as nourishment for my Self Esteem

The disappointment of manhood succeeds the delusion of youth.

Mistrust is the sure forerunner of hatred.

I have a Russian heart.

What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likable, but eventually relatable.

We cannot conquer fate and necessity, yet we can yield to them in such a manner as to be greater than if we could.