Miguel Syjuco Quotes

Powerful Miguel Syjuco for Daily Growth

About Miguel Syjuco

Miguel Syjuco is a Filipino-Canadian novelist, essayist, and visual artist, renowned for his poetic prose and exploration of identity, history, and the diaspora experience. Born in Manila, Philippines on February 21, 1980, Syjuco spent most of his childhood in Canada before returning to the Philippines as a teenager. His early life was marked by a deep appreciation for literature and the arts, which were nurtured through interactions with various artists, writers, and intellectuals in both Manila and Toronto. His influences range from Filipino National Artist F. Sionil José, to Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez, and American writer Junot Diaz. Syjuco's major works include his debut novel "Ilustrado" (2010), a multi-generational family saga that satirically explores the Philippine elite, their relationships with colonial powers, and the struggle for national identity. The novel was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and won the Filipino National Book Award. In 2015, he published "My Old Man and Other Stories," a collection of short stories that delve into themes of family, love, and loss. His latest work, "The Fourth Estate" (2019), is a novel about a fictional newspaper struggling to maintain its relevance in the digital age while investigating a mysterious crime that mirrors real-life events in Philippine history. Syjuco's work often blends reality and fiction, weaving together personal narratives with larger societal issues. His unique storytelling style and thought-provoking themes have solidified his place as a significant voice in contemporary Filipino literature.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Life's not about finding yourself. Life's about creating yourself."

This quote suggests that instead of passively discovering our identity or purpose, we should actively shape it ourselves. It encourages self-creation and personal growth, implying that each individual has the power to define their own existence and destiny. Essentially, life is a canvas on which we can paint our own unique story, rather than passively waiting for it to unfold.

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

This quote by Miguel Syjuco implies that travel broadens our perspectives, allowing us to experience diverse cultures, histories, and ways of life. Just as reading a book allows you to explore different worlds, traveling enables us to do the same in real life. By visiting various regions, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of humanity and the world, thus "reading more pages" from the global book of existence.

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going."

This quote emphasizes the importance of putting in effort, time, and dedication when pursuing meaningful goals or destinations in life. It suggests that achieving something valuable never comes easily, and taking shortcuts will only lead to shallow, unsatisfying results. Instead, one should focus on the journey, learning from each step along the way, and be willing to invest the necessary hard work and perseverance to reach their desired destination.

"The past is never really left behind; it is always with us, in the places we go, the people we meet, the lives we touch, and the stories we tell."

This quote by Miguel Syjuco suggests that our past experiences significantly influence our present and future. The memories, lessons, emotions, and relationships from our past are embedded in us, shaping who we become and how we interact with the world around us. They become part of us as we journey through life, influencing the places we go, the people we meet, the lives we touch, and the stories we tell. Essentially, our past is a constant companion that shapes our identity and influences our present actions, interactions, and decisions.

"We are all stories, and we must learn to read our own."

This quote emphasizes the importance of self-discovery and understanding one's personal narrative in life. Just as a book tells a unique story, each individual has their own story shaped by experiences, values, and perspectives. The author encourages us to delve into our personal histories, emotions, and beliefs, and recognize that these elements contribute to our identity. Essentially, this quote reminds us to embrace our uniqueness, learn from our past, and use our life experiences to shape our present and future.

I surprise myself that I'm not dead in the gutter somewhere, surprised that I haven't given up.

- Miguel Syjuco

Myself, Surprise, Given, Gutter

With 'Ilustrado,' I set out to change the way we read literature, and I think I failed spectacularly. In fact, I know I failed. In reaching further than I could, I may not have produced a life- or literature-changing book, but I did produce one I am proud of.

- Miguel Syjuco

Book, Fact, I Think, I May Not

'Illustrado' is not an autobiography. Only the ideas are autobiographical; the ideas of bitterness, frustration, unchanging society, an individual lost, social awkwardness... The book satirises archetypes from across Filipino society, and I felt that the least I could do was offer myself up, too.

- Miguel Syjuco

Book, Awkwardness, Least, Bitterness

I look at western literature and especially North American literature, and I feel like it gets bogged down so much with all of that, with domestic stories and relationships and a woman dealing with the loss of her husband.

- Miguel Syjuco

Woman, Feel, North, North American

I treat my writing like a day job, like my main job, even if for many years I was doing other jobs to pay the bills. I worked as a copy editor. I was a medical guinea pig. I was an eBay power seller of ladies' handbags. I was an assistant to a bookie at the horse races. I bartended. I did anything I could to make ends meet.

- Miguel Syjuco

Treat, Handbags, Seller, Ladies

The immigrant experience in 'Ilustrado' was only a small part of what I intended to be a broader look at the Filipino experience, even if that broader look was itself merely a specific perspective.

- Miguel Syjuco

Small, Part, Small Part, Filipino

I want to write a book that makes people debate, and makes people think, interact with each other and exchange ideas... I write because I'm engaged in this big conversation.

- Miguel Syjuco

Think, Big, Engaged, Conversation

Postmodernism was a reaction to modernism. Where modernism was about objectivity, postmodernism was about subjectivity. Where modernism sought a singular truth, postmodernism sought the multiplicity of truths.

- Miguel Syjuco

Reaction, Postmodernism, Modernism

The Philippines, it has a politics of patronage. Family and favors, in addition to the old cliche of guns, goons and gold, really do still hold a lot of sway.

- Miguel Syjuco

Politics, Guns, Still, Sway

Touching on universality is an important part of effective storytelling, but the problem with cliches is that they are tired and dull. And that's where writers must try to be artful.

- Miguel Syjuco

Storytelling, Universality, Cliches

If I were to go back to the Philippines, I would probably end up teaching creative writing at a university. I wouldn't be able to write, for I would become too jaded to be able to view the existing situation objectively.

- Miguel Syjuco

Go, Back, University, Objectively

There is that potential of the expats coming back to the Philippines. But sadly they are no opportunities, no incentive for them to come back home. Successive governments have, in fact, been training them to export them rather than working on the economy to welcome them home.

- Miguel Syjuco

Fact, Been, Sadly, Export

The Miguel Syjuco character is not me. I wanted him to represent my own fears and frustrations and guilt, my own worst tendencies and my optimistic expectations. He's a cautionary tale for me. But he's also an examination of the darkest things that haunt me as a person.

- Miguel Syjuco

Him, Own, Haunt, Frustrations

I grew up with a very privileged background. My father served as one of the cabinet ministers in Arroyo's government, and he's been a congressman for many years, and he's running again.

- Miguel Syjuco

Father, Been, Very, Cabinet

I love my homeland, but it's an absurd country. Politics in the Philippines is like spectator sports!

- Miguel Syjuco

Love, Politics, Country, Spectator

I don't see myself as any different from all the other Filipinos who have gone abroad looking for opportunity, to be a nurse, a labourer, a maid or a prostitute.

- Miguel Syjuco

Other, Abroad, Labourer, Maid

I studied in New York. I fell in love with an Australian-born, half-Filipina girl. So we moved to Australia when she went to her university and I moved with her. We moved to Montreal because she was going to take her year abroad, and I wanted to see if I could keep on writing there. It's really hard to make it as a writer in the Philippines.

- Miguel Syjuco

Love, Year, University, Philippines

I read a blog about this young filmmaker in the Philippines who made a short film, and one of the characters in the film reads my novel and then starts discussing the novel with someone. The idea that my book can inspire another artist and be part of that other artist's work... that's the reason I write.

- Miguel Syjuco

Reason, Other, I Write, Philippines

When you live in the Philippines or a country like that, you develop something of a very thick skin because you're confronted every day with all of the problems all around you.

- Miguel Syjuco

Country, Thick Skin, Very, Philippines

Fiction is a very powerful tool for teaching history. The Philippines was the first Iraq, the first Vietnam, the first Afghanistan, in the sense that it was the United States' initial or baptismal experience in nation-building.

- Miguel Syjuco

Fiction, United States, Very, Philippines

I've learned that I have to be happy with creating discussion and debate and that I shouldn't be trying to write a book that appeals to the consensus.

- Miguel Syjuco

Happy, Book, Learned, Appeals

I have no illusions that my work can rouse the masses to create change, because literature simply doesn't have that power anymore in my country, if it does anywhere. But I do hope that it can be read by those who are in positions to create change, or that it can at least be part of that dialogue.

- Miguel Syjuco

Country, Part, Least, Illusions

What I do know is that writing is the thing I am best at, and I don't have the stomach, the ability, the strength or the courage to enter the political arena. And I think writing can be a political act, if only to let those people accountable know they are being watched. Literature can be a conscience.

- Miguel Syjuco

Strength, Political, I Think, Enter

I don't believe in nationalism. I think it's a bunch of slogans. It's a bunch of poor attempts at creating pride. My problem with nationalism is that it becomes exclusionary. We start to exclude people.

- Miguel Syjuco

Start, Think, I Think, Nationalism

I have to believe that literature can effect change; otherwise, I would have no purpose in my life and would have wasted four years on 'Ilustrado.'

- Miguel Syjuco

Purpose, My Life, Otherwise, Effect

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