Pico Iyer Quotes

The Cuban people have an amazingly strong and unbroken spirit.

People in America think of it as a sad and downtrodden place, and I guess it could be, but it's not because that's not who Cubans are. In Cuba, you get a good story every day you go out walking. People are so funny.

So I do not consider myself a chronicler of my fatherland or even a chronicler of Havana.

I'm Cuban-American, everybody says. I have a Cuban background, Cuban blood.

My mother told me many stories about her childhood in Cuba. Living there had a profound impact on her and how she regards herself.

I'm from a Cuban family, so we're used to talking really loud. You come to a Cuban restaurant anywhere in Miami, and we're practically screaming at each other.

Violet speaks Spanish and understands it. She loves Cuban food! My mom is very good at teaching her about our culture, whether it be the food or Spanish or explaining to her that she's Cuban.

In Old Havana, the names of the streets before the revolution provided a glimpse into the city's state of mind. You might have known someone who lived on the corner of Soul and Bitterness, Solitude and Hope, or Light and Avocado.

Havana is a source of great pride to the Cuban people.

Faith leaders, young people, American companies, human rights advocates, and many others have demonstrated a unique interest in our Cuba policy. But no community cares more deeply about these issues than Cuban Americans - young and old - who have maintained a profound interest in Cuba and an abiding faith in the Cuban people.

I want to say almost 100% Cubans who get mad at you are Cubans who live in Miami. And they all live comfortably in Miami. They can all go online and tell you what happened to your grandfather. In Cuba, it's a totally different thing. They can't wait for you to come. They're energized. They love your music. They want to see something new.

I'm Cuban. Both my parents are Cuban. My grandparents are, too. Although I have no idea where Fit comes from.

I was born in New York, but I'm of Cuban heritage. Maybe there's a little island in my blood.

I am Cuban, my parents are Cuban, and I was not adopted.

I've been to Cuba many times.

My father was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. His family is from Spain. My father never taught me how to speak Spanish when I was little. That's very disappointing to me. I'm still planning on learning it on my own. I really want to travel to Spain and immerse myself in the culture and learn it on my own.

The chiefs of Fiji have relevance for all our citizens not just the Fijians, they still represent stability, order and continuity. If the chiefs were diminished, the entire nation would be weakened and be vulnerable.

I'm Cuban. My parents are immigrants.

Growing up in Miami, being Cuban is integrated into our culture. When we greet anyone, we give them a kiss on the cheek.

With all of the people in Cuba who I met - many of them hugely heroic figures - I found learning about their complexity and richness and contradictions just really fascinating, and it was fulfilling to be able to offer a different side to them, to be able to have some kind of unique takeaway from the official narrative.

Havana, for all its smells, sweat, crumbling walls, isolation, and difficult history, is the most romantic city in the world.

Havana is a uniquely complicated city and contains a great many histories.

I think there [on Cuba] is going to be an extraordinary reception.Cubans are - they want to hold onto their culture, their heritage, but they also want to embrace this opportunity, perhaps, for new economic freedoms.

Though the island of Great Britain exhibits but a small spot upon the map of the globe, it makes a splendid appearance in the history of mankind, and for a long space has been signally under the protection of God and a seat of peace, liberty and truth.

More than anything I want to be able to go back to Cuba, to have a house to visit there, to know my roots. Then, at last, I could sing for my people.