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Juan Felipe Herrera Quotes

Powerful Juan Felipe Herrera for Daily Growth

About Juan Felipe Herrera

Juan Felipe Herrera, born on February 26, 1948, in Fowler, California, is a renowned Chicano poet, performance artist, and activist who has made significant contributions to American literature. He was the 21st Poet Laureate of the United States (2015-2017). Herrera's upbringing deeply influenced his work. Growing up in a migrant farmworker family, he learned Spanish from his mother and English from school. This bilingual background is reflected in his poetry, which often explores the richness of language and cultural identity. Influenced by the Chicano Movement of the 1960s, Herrera's work also reflects his commitment to social justice. He co-founded El Teatro Campesino (The Farmworker Theater) with Luis Valdez in 1965, using performance as a tool for community empowerment and activism. Herrera's major works include the poetry collections, "Casualties of Being" (1984), "187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border" (1999), and "Notes on the Assemblage: Selected Poems" (2006). His most acclaimed work, "Crashboomlove: a chicano novel," was published in 1992. In 2015, Herrera was appointed as the United States Poet Laureate, becoming the first Latino to hold the position. During his tenure, he emphasized poetry's power to bridge communities and foster dialogue about vital issues such as immigration, identity, and social justice. Juan Felipe Herrera's unique blend of poetry, performance, and activism continues to inspire a new generation of artists and writers. His works serve as a testament to the resilience and creativity of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Every breath we take is a step on a journey of wonder."

This quote emphasizes the sense of discovery and amazement in our everyday lives. By simply breathing, we embark on a perpetual journey where every moment presents new experiences and wonders to explore. It encourages us to view life as an adventure and appreciate its constant flow, inviting us to be curious and open-minded about the world around us.

"Remember to always write in the language of wind, not the language of stone."

This quote by Juan Felipe Herrera encourages us to express ourselves with fluidity, flexibility, and change, much like the natural and unpredictable flow of wind. It's a reminder that our creativity should embody spontaneity, adaptability, and freedom rather than adhering strictly to fixed structures or established norms, symbolized by stone. Essentially, Herrera encourages us to be innovative, open-minded, and dynamic in our writing and life choices.

"Poetry is the song of the soul; it is the whisper of dreams in our hearts."

This quote by Juan Felipe Herrera suggests that poetry serves as a medium for expressing deep emotions, innermost thoughts, and dreams, much like a song or melody emanating from one's soul. It also implies that these poetic expressions can resonate within us on a personal level, stirring feelings that echo the whispers of our own dreams and aspirations. In essence, Herrera emphasizes the profound power of poetry to connect us with our inner selves and awaken our imaginations.

"I tell my students: when you're writing a poem, every word should surprise you."

Juan Felipe Herrera encourages his students to find novelty in their poetry-making process. Each word chosen for the poem should be unexpected or fresh, creating an element of discovery not only for the reader but also for the writer themselves. This approach fosters creativity, originality, and a deep connection with the words and their meanings.

"I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say."

This quote by Juan Felipe Herrera emphasizes the self-exploratory nature of writing. He suggests that the act of putting thoughts into words helps individuals clarify their ideas, emotions, or beliefs – in essence, helping them understand themselves better. It is a testament to how the process of writing can serve as a mirror, reflecting our inner thoughts and feelings back to us.

Just like my parents immigrated from ranch to ranch picking crops, I have migrated from city to city.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

City, Like, Crops, Ranch

Perhaps, like the way these leaves spread out and the way they curl in many directions and how they have many features, I think that's how my road has been.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Think, Been, I Think, Curl

A pen is different from the pad, the key, moving your fingers across a screen. I like both. I like to work on sketchbooks, big old white sketch paper. I like how that feels, and I like to put different media on it. Then there's the phone, smartphone, iPad: It's the new page, and it's not the same page anymore.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Big, Screen, Feels, Pad

My mother was a great storyteller and a great historian in her own way. She only made it to third grade. She came from Mexico City at the tail end of the Mexican Revolution and that kind of turmoil and chaos and frenzy and also excitement.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

City, Mexican, Own, Turmoil

Diversity really means becoming complete as human beings - all of us. We learn from each other. If you're missing on that stage, we learn less. We all need to be on that stage.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Other, Becoming, Means, Missing

Let's detox our cluttered academic brain. That's what the poet does. People call it daydreaming, detoxing our minds and taking care of that clutter. It's being able to let in call letters from the poetry universe.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Clutter, Being, Cluttered, Detox

San Diego shaped me a lot. The visual landscapes, the emotional panoramas, the teachers and mentors I had from the third grade through San Diego High - it's all a big part of the poetry fountain that I continue to drink from.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Big, Through, Big Part, Diego

I used to stand on the corner in San Diego with poems sticking out of my hip pocket, asking people if there was a place where I could read poems. The audience is half of the poem.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Audience, San, Read, Diego

I write while I'm walking, on little scraps of paper. If I have a melody going, I can feel it for days.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Feel, Going, I Write, Scraps

Sometimes it's like that. I go, 'You know what? I'm going to just change scales. I'm going to even change instruments. And I'm going to go into the chromatics of the Spanish language,' and I do. You know, the poem is totally different. It's like a lunar voice versus a day voice, a solar voice.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Voice, Solar, Sometimes, Versus

What I really had was stories, the oral traditions of my parents. We moved so much that that was really our encyclopedia. A dream world told to me from my parents in the living room.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Living, Stories, Moved, Encyclopedia

In my writing, I want to address all communities, you know. I've spent many years talking about Chicano culture, Chicano history, and at the same time, I've also been in many communities and presented my work in many communities, in many classrooms, and that's where my vision is and my delight is and my heart is.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Talking, Been, About, Classrooms

I've worked throughout California as a poet: in colleges, universities, worker camps, migrant education offices, continuation high schools, juvenile halls, prisons, and gifted classrooms.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Education, Colleges, Offices, Classrooms

I tell my workshop students, 'I want you to think of yourselves as artists. Then, when you're writing, you're painting, you're crafting, you're making a design, you're sculpting, you're creating choreography, sound, a sound script.'

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Think, Making, Sculpting, Choreography

My grandmother and my mom and my aunt Aurelia, my grandmother Juanita, my mom Lucia - we lived on the outskirts of a barrio in Mexico City called Tepito, and Tepito for many, many decades was the largest barrio in Mexico and perhaps even Latin America.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

City, Grandmother, Largest, Decades

First grade was - I spoke only Spanish, and second grade - probably a bit more English. And by the time I hit third grade, I was learning, of course, much, much more English.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Spoke, By The Time, Spanish, First Grade

I remember looking at James Joyce's journals. It was just amazing - it looked like ants had written on the page. So much writing on one page, every corner of the page was filled. Some of the lines were underlined in yellow or blue or red. A lot of color, intense writing.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

I Remember, Some, Ants, Journals

I'm usually writing in English, and then I'll get the hankering to change channels. And usually I'll do that when I want to try a whole new set of keys, like musical keys.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

New, Set, Musical, Channels

I like marketplaces. I like train stations; I like being in trains. I like airports. I like walking down the street with a pen in my hand, writing, writing, writing.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Like, Stations, Being, Train

Poetry, as odd as it is, and as hard to figure out as it is, many times, it's almost something that we're used to. It's kind of like a dream language that we had centuries ago, so that when we speak poetically or write a poem about what's going on, a real difficult issue that's facing our communities, people listen.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

About, Almost, Facing, Communities

We speak about understanding each other, having those conversations nationwide - culturally, historically - and yet there's a lot of gaps. So I want to assist with closing the gap of knowing about and hearing about our Latino communities in terms of literature, in terms of writing.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Conversations, Other, About, Communities

By middle school, I said to myself that it's time I begin to speak. I joined the choir, not because I wanted to. I forced myself.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Middle, Joined, Forced, Middle School

I want to take everything I have in me, weave it, merge it with the beauty that is in the Library of Congress, all the resources, the guidance of the staff and departments, and launch it with the heart-shaped dreams of the people.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Beauty, Want, Congress, Merge

The banner of the project is 'Casa de Colores.' Under that banner, I'm going to invite people to do a lot of good things. Perhaps working in groups, working on poetry.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Project, Going, Banner, Good Things

Marvin Bell always looked very closely at how lines could break, how you could put over one line into the second line. How you could stop the line two or three times within the line: You could make it stop.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Always, Over, Very, Bell

We went from crop to crop, field to field. And my father had that army truck, a 1940s army truck from Fort Bliss, El Paso.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Father, Truck, 1940s, El Paso

The more we engage in society, the more firsts we have, then there will be a moment when we have no more firsts. Or maybe there will always be new firsts.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Society, New, Always, Engage

All voices are important, and yet it seems that people of color have a lot to say, particularly if you look through the poetry of young people - a lot of questions and a lot of concerns about immigration and security issues, you name it - big questions.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Big, Through, Big Questions, Concerns

I'm a political poet - let us say a 'human' poet, a poet that's concerned with the plight of people who suffer. If words can be of assistance, then that's what I'm going to use.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Going, Concerned, Use, Plight

I know I'm representing the Library of Congress, all the people of the United States and, of course, the Latinos and Latinas as well.

- Juan Felipe Herrera

Congress, United States, Latinos

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