Manuel Puig Quotes

It is the tragic story of the cultural crusader in a mass society that he cannot win, but that we would be lost without him.

By the late 1970s, repression and economic chaos were causing increasing unrest throughout Latin America. Army strongmen were forced to cede power in Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

In the past decade, nearly a dozen elected Latin American presidents have been forced from office.

The only continent where social movements have led to political parties that have pushed through serious social and political reforms is in South America.

It took us a long time to get rid of the effects of the French Revolution 200 years ago. We don't want another one.

Politics is but the common pulse-beat, of which revolution is the fever-spasm.

The scrupulous and the just, the noble, humane, and devoted natures; the unselfish and the intelligent may begin a movement--but it passes away from them. They are not the leaders of a revolution. They are its victims

We had the friendliest feelings for the people of Mexico and were sensible of their desire for social and political betterment, but revolutionary tendencies and chaotic conditions made it impossible to find a sound basis for intercourse…. The contestants, seeking to overthrow the established government, have taken possession of certain portions of the Mexican territory and either are claiming tribute from peaceful and legitimate American commerce or are attempting to obstruct and destroy it.

History is a relay of revolutions

If you want to change a country, you're going to be bumped every now and then.

Of all the things we have done, the most important - the one that history will record as the principal contribution of our generation - is that we understand how to turn the armed struggle into a Revolution; that we realized that it was essential to create a new mentality to build a new society.

Authority has to exist before it can be limited, and it is authority that is in scarce supply in those modernizing countries where government is at the mercy of alienated intellectuals, rambunctious colonels, and rioting students.

Work for legal reform takes place only within the framework of the social form created by the last revolution.

Anytime a culture is in economic stress, ugly things start happening.

The Adequate Protest demands far more than protests. It calls for Great and Daring Leaps of Integrity and Courage to See.

Cultural change always precedes political change.

Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future.

My presence is to instigate and incite the people for any change they want, and for not having a change that they don't wish to do.

No matter how many shows or how much work we do, we are not going to make a difference. It's only the masses that will make a difference.

While Shakespeare wasn't the first voice in the room, in North America and Europe, he's one of the loudest voices.

I remember being in Washington for high school when the city was on fire and those were troubling times, the Vietnam War, the protests.

Quality cinema is not changing anything, everything is the same. The artistes and other people involved in these films get some recognition at international film festivals and award shows only.

The 'Grace of Kings' begins as a very dark, complicated world filled with injustices - among them the oppressed position of women - but gradually transforms into something better through a series of revolutions. But since real social change takes a long time, even by the end of the book, only the seeds of deep change have been planted.

Football's incomparable to anything else - perhaps only music has that same power to transform society.

Revolutions can be messy but they can't be perceived as unjust.