Guillermo Cabrera Infante Quotes

Powerful Guillermo Cabrera Infante for Daily Growth

About Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929-2005) was a Cuban novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, filmmaker, journalist, and broadcaster, known for his innovative and experimental writing style that fused various art forms. Born on October 12, 1929, in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, he was the son of Guillermo Cabrera y Gómez, a writer and diplomat, and María de los Ángeles Infante y Pérez, a pianist. This artistic background played a significant role in shaping his creative sensibilities. Infante spent his early years in Havana, where he was exposed to a vibrant cultural scene that would later become the backdrop for much of his work. In 1953, he founded the literary magazine "Verde y Blanco" with other young writers, marking the beginning of his career as a literary figure. Infante's first major work was the novel "Tres tristes tigres" (Three Sad Tigers), published in 1967. This groundbreaking work, which drew upon his experiences during the Cuban Revolution, combined elements of fiction, journalism, and autobiography to create a unique narrative style. The book received international acclaim and established Infante as one of Latin America's most innovative writers. Following the publication of "Tres tristes tigres," Infante moved to London in 1968, where he lived for many years. During this period, he published several other works, including the novels "La Habana para un ciego" (Havana for a Blind Man) and "Cincuenta leguas de caballo en la llanura caribeña" (Fifty Miles on Horseback Across the Caribbean Plain), as well as numerous essays and short stories. Infante's writing was characterized by its lyrical quality, its playful use of language, and its exploration of themes such as exile, memory, and identity. He died in Barcelona, Spain, on July 14, 2005. Today, he is remembered not only for his extraordinary literary achievements but also for his role as a cultural ambassador who helped to bring Cuban literature to a global audience.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"To write is to see."

This quote by Guillermo Cabrera Infante suggests that the act of writing is a means to perceive, understand, and interpret the world around us more deeply. It implies that written words can capture and convey our observations, thoughts, and emotions in a way that allows others to see the world through our perspective. Writing thus becomes a tool for both personal insight and shared understanding, as we use language to illuminate our own experiences and ideas, and make them accessible to others.

"Life without literature is unimaginable; without love, inconceivable."

This quote highlights the integral roles that literature and love play in our human experience. Literature allows us to imagine, reflect, and understand our world, making a life without it seemingly impossible as it shapes our perception of reality. Love, on the other hand, is the most powerful emotion we can feel, giving meaning and purpose to our lives. Without love, existence becomes ungraspable or inconceivable, as it connects us deeply with others and enriches our personal growth and development. In essence, this quote suggests that literature and love are essential pillars supporting a meaningful, imaginative life.

"I am a Cuban novelist, but not a Cuban novel."

This quote suggests that while Guillermo Cabrera Infante is a novelist from Cuba, his works transcend the boundaries of traditional Cuban literature. He may be expressing that his novels are not limited by geographical or cultural constraints, but rather explore universal themes in unique ways. This could also imply a personal identity that goes beyond nationality and allows for diverse perspectives in his writing.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

This quote by Guillermo Cabrera Infante suggests that staying in one place is analogous to reading just one page of a book, implying a limited perspective on the world. Traveling, however, allows us to turn the pages of this global book, exposing ourselves to diverse cultures, histories, and experiences that expand our understanding and empathy for humanity. In essence, travel enriches our knowledge and broadens our horizons beyond what we can find in our immediate surroundings.

"To be a writer is to become an oyster: the more pain you suffer, the better your pearls will be."

This quote suggests that the experience of pain or suffering can serve as a catalyst for great literary work, similar to how an oyster produces pearls in response to irritation. The deeper the pain, the more valuable and profound the "pearls" (writings) become. It underscores the idea that personal hardships can fuel creativity and artistic expression, and that the best literature often emerges from the depths of human experience.

I know that many writers have had to write under censorship and yet produced good novels; for instance, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote under Catholic censorship.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Had, Instance, Wrote, Quixote

No, absolutely not, writing doesn't have to be like a jigsaw puzzle, it can be a very linear undertaking.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Very, Absolutely Not, Linear, Jigsaw

Titles are not only important, they are essential for me. I cannot write without a title.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Me, Important, Only, Essential

My mother had been educated at a convent, and she had been converted to communism by my father during Stalin's most rampant period, at the beginning of the 1930s. So she had two gods, God in heaven and god on earth.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Been, 1930s, Period, Converted

If you look closely, there is no book more visual than Three Trapped Tigers, in that it is filled with blank pages, dark pages, it has stars made of words, the famous magical cube made of numbers, and there is even a page which is a mirror.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Book, Mirror, Blank, Tigers

I think that I've tried many times to get Cuba in my writings, especially Havana, which was once a great and fascinating city.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Think, I Think, Which, Cuba

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

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Myself, Fatherland, Even, Havana

I think writers rush in where everybody is very frightened to tread.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Think, Everybody, Very, Tread

Writers rush in where publishers fear to tread and where translators fear to tread.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Publishers, Where, Writers, Tread

I am the only British writer who writes in Spanish.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

I Am, Only, Spanish, Writes

A very wise author once said that a writer writes for himself, and then publishes for money. I write for myself and publish just for the reader.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Very, I Write, Author, Writes

I do not consider myself a Hispanic writer.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Myself, Writer, Consider, Hispanic

The relationship between reader and characters is very difficult. It is even more peculiar than the relationship between the writer and his characters.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Very, Characters, His, Peculiar

Many of my books have begun with the title, because naming a work already in progress makes no sense to me.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Work, No Sense, Makes, Naming

I wrote for a weekly magazine and then edited a literary magazine, but I did not really feel comfortable with the profession of journalism itself.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Profession, Edited, Wrote, Journalism

There were influences in my life that were more important than journalism, such as comic strips and radio.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Life, My Life, More, Journalism

I describe my works as books, but my publishers in Spain, in the United States, and elsewhere insist on calling them novels.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Spain, United States, Works, Novels

I have assiduously avoided calling my books novels.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Calling, Books, Avoided, Novels

You are just in the middle of a struggle with words which are really very stubborn things, with a blank page, with the damn thing that you use to write with, a pen or a typewriter, and you forget all about the reader when you are doing that.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Doing, Stubborn, Very, Struggle

I was an avid radio fan when I was a boy, as well as a great lover of comic strips.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Fan, Lover, Comic Strips, Avid

I believe that writers, unless they consider themselves terribly exquisite, are at heart people who live by night, a little bit outside society, moving between delinquency and conformity.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Believe, Terribly, Bit, Conformity

I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and was recognized only by his dog.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

More, Recognized, Read, Twenty

It means that no matter what you write, be it a biography, an autobiography, a detective novel, or a conversation on the street, it all becomes fiction as soon as you write it down.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Biography, Fiction, Means, Conversation

I am a writer of fragments.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

I Am, Writer, Am, Fragments

Puns are a form of humor with words.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Humor, Words, Form, Puns

That is what I define as a novel: something that has a beginning, a middle and an end, with characters and a plot that sustain interest from the first sentence to the last. But that is not what I do at all.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Beginning, Middle, Sentence, Sustain

For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on the page.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Game, Concrete, Which, Acted

My parents were founders of the Cuban Communist Party, and I grew up extremely poor.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Communist, Communist Party, Cuban

I first came out against Castro in June 1968, fifteen months after my book had been published, and you cannot imagine how quickly a void was created around me.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Against, Been, Castro, June

Well, I write in exile because I cannot return to my country, so I have no choice but to see myself as an exiled writer.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Myself, Country, I Write, Return

I do not believe in inspiration, but I must have a title in order to work, otherwise I am lost.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Work, I Am, Otherwise, Title

I have one main reader, Miriam Gomez, my wife. She reads everything I write - I have not finished writing something and she is already reading it.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Wife, I Write, Reader, Finished

I think that like all writers - and if any writer disagrees with this, then he is not a writer - I write primarily for myself.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Think, I Think, I Write, Primarily

I don't much believe in the idea of characters. I write with words, that is all. Whether those words are put in the mouth of this or that character does not matter to me.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Words, Idea, I Write, Mouth

I was never a true journalist, I was a movie critic.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Never, Movie, Critic, Journalist

When I write, the first blank page, or any blank page, means nothing to me. What means something is a page that has been filled with words.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Been, Blank, Means, Blank Page

I live in London and I am a British subject, although I do write in Spanish, of course.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

I Am, London, Spanish, Course

American literature had always considered writing a very serious matter.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Always, Very, Literature

I am against the notion of style in itself.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

I Am, Against, Itself, Notion

But I do not have the reader in mind when I write. No true writer does that.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Mind, I Write, Reader, Writer

What I do believe is that there is always a relationship between writing and reading, a constant interplay between the writer on the one hand and the reader on the other.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Always, Other, Reader, Constant

I left my country because I was forced to, and I do not think that I am going to lose my language because I live in England.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Think, Country, Going, England

When I write, I enjoy myself so much that what is being written really needs no reader.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Myself, Needs, I Write, Reader

Watching a movie from beginning to end is like reading, because even though what you see are images, they are telling you a story.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Beginning, Telling, Images, Movie

I think all writing is done through memory.

- Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Think, Through, I Think, Memory

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