Through the different literary genres, human beings are able to develop, collect and transmit their thoughts, knowledge, opinions and beliefs or those of their environment or culture, or to give free rein to their creativity and their emotions.

Literature is one of the arts, with exponents in all cultures. One of the most representative authors of Latin America has been Eduardo Galeano , writer and journalist whose works revolve around various themes, largely linked to the history and tradition of their culture.

Throughout his writings, this author has left interesting reflections on multiple topics, which is why in this article we present several sentences by Eduardo Galeano, the mythical Uruguayan writer.

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Forty-five reflections by Eduardo Galeano

Below is a series of phrases by Eduardo Galeano on topics as diverse as love, freedom, feelings or identity.

1. There are those who believe that destiny rests on the knees of the gods, but the truth is that it works, as a burning challenge, on the consciences of men

Our future depends above all on our efforts, not on chance or on divine intervention.

2. After all, we are what we do to change who we are

It is our efforts, our actions, that define us.

3. Each person shines with his own light among all the others. No two fires are the same. There are big fires and small fires and fires of all colors

This phrase reflects that we are all unique and different, with different ways of seeing reality.

4. There is only one place where yesterday and today they meet and recognize and embrace each other. That place is tomorrow

The present will end up being the past, as well as the future the present, with the passage of time.

5. Cult is not the one who reads books. Cult is one that is able to listen to the other

Sometimes the mistake is made of thinking that the cult is the one that reads or studies. It actually needs an understanding of the world and what surrounds us.

6. Only fools believe that silence is a void. It’s never empty. And sometimes silence is the best way to communicate

Silence, although it may seem like the absence of communication, communicates much more than it seems. What we do not say and do not say also reflects a lot of information.

7. Many small people, in their small places, doing small things, can change the world

No matter how little it may seem like we’re doing, it all adds up to changing things.

8. Charity is humiliating because it is exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect

Being in solidarity implies helping others by considering them as equals. To give charity is to look down on them with compassion.

10. May we have the courage to be alone and the courage to risk being together

This phrase expresses the need to have courage to risk both having a relationship and fighting for it and being able to be alone.

11. He who is not imprisoned by need is imprisoned by fear: some do not sleep because of the anxiety of having the things they do not have, and others do not sleep because of the panic of losing the things they have

Today, our consumer culture drives us to constantly acquire and maintain goods and services, which can reach obsessive levels.

12. The nascent cyber-community finds refuge in virtual reality, while cities tend to become immense deserts full of people, where everyone watches over their saint and is each in his own bubble

Today we can see how people are increasingly isolated in their own world, or in networks, without paying attention to what is happening in real life.

13. Violence begets violence, as we know; but it also begets profits for the violence industry, which sells it as a show and makes it an object of consumption

Violence is often used as an object and a spectacle.

14. Utopia is on the horizon. I walk two steps, she walks two steps away. I walk ten steps and the horizon runs ten steps further. No matter how much I walk, I’ll never catch up with her. So what’s utopia for? For that, it’s good for walking

Although utopias and perfection are unattainable, they impel us to fight and to try to reach them, to develop and to grow.

15. Have you no enemies? What do you mean? Have you never told the truth, nor have you ever loved justice?

We all have enemies, since what we believe and defend, what we do, say or even think is not going to please everyone and is going to encounter positions that are opposed to it.

16. In order not to be deaf, one must start by not being deaf

In order to be free to express ourselves, we must start by not ignoring others. We cannot simply ignore what is happening around us.

17. I like sentimental people, who don’t separate reason from heart. Who feel and think at the same time. Without divorcing the head from the body, nor the emotion from the reason

We can often meet people who only follow reason or emotion. But it is possible to follow both. This is what leads us to be happy: to be who we are, complete and integrated beings.

18. Free are those who believe, not those who copy, and free are those who think, not those who obey

This phrase is intended to stimulate critical thinking and creativity rather than simply following the imposed and conforming.

19. The demon has a large wardrobe and does not only wear red

There’s no such thing as a bad “they.” We can find all kinds of people everywhere. Cruelty and hatred can appear in anyone regardless of their type of ideology.

20. Motorists are afraid to walk and pedestrians are afraid of being run over

This phrase reflects that we fear what we consider to be the opposite of what we do or live, or simply what we do not know.

21. I believe that we were born children of the days, because every day has a story and we are the stories that we live

Every day of our lives, we live new and different experiences that help us to form and develop ourselves.

22. If I fell, it’s because I was walking. And walking is worth it, even if you fall

This phrase pushes us to move forward, and it is worthwhile to move forward and persist in our search for a future.

23. The moral code of the end of the millennium does not condemn injustice, but failure

Often what is socially criticized is the failure to achieve objectives, sometimes regardless of whether or not failure involves the use of unfair methods that harm others.

24. In a world of plastic and noise, I want to be of clay and silence

Today’s society is based on superficiality, appearances, coldness and excessive individuality that leads to isolation.

25. To teach, is to teach to doubt

We need to be able to be critical of what is being proposed to us. We need to learn to think for ourselves and to be able to make our own judgments of reality.

26. As you can see, I’m fucked up to love. I know it’s not enough. There are many of us who are messed up with love, but it takes courage to get it out of your system, with damage and all

Even if we have been hurt, we must be able to overcome it and do our best.

27. The first condition for modifying reality is to know it

Once again, this phrase urges us to pay attention to our surroundings and to take an interest in them if we want to be able to change the world.

28. We live in a world where the funeral matters more than the dead, the wedding more than love, and the physical more than the intellect.

We rely too much on appearances, ignoring what lies beneath. This is true of most things, including personal relationships.

29. And today, more than ever, it is necessary to dream. To dream, together, dreams that become unconscious and in mortal matter incarnate

Dreaming allows us to visualize what we want to achieve, and to strive for it.

30. The memory will keep what it’s worth. Memory knows more about me than I do, and it doesn’t lose what is worth saving

Under normal conditions we remember what is most important to us. What we think is relevant will be remembered, and only the details that we consider to be insignificant will disappear.

31. The culture of consumption, the culture of detachment, trains us to believe that things happen for a reason

We have lost over time some of our sense that things happen because of our efforts.

32. Sometimes the idol doesn’t fall down in one piece. And sometimes, when it breaks, people devour the pieces

This phrase criticizes the change of mind of those who at first praise and idolize someone and then criticize or laugh at him when he fails.

33. I let go of the hug, go out into the street. In the sky, already clearing, the moon is drawn thin. The moon is two nights old. I, one

This phrase reflects the importance of emotional relationships, showing how they make us feel as if we are starting to live.

34. There are many things that are born in one sense and end up living in another

Things don’t always turn out as they seem, and they can lead to very different paths than we expected.

35. All I know is this: art is art or it’s shit

Art is only art when it is created by expressing something. Otherwise it cannot be considered as such.

36. The word politics has become so hackneyed that it means everything and means nothing.

The author criticizes the hypocrisy and manipulation of politics, as well as its excessive use, which has made it controversial and confusing for a large majority of the population.

37. They looked like they were about to fall, but they did not: when she stumbled, he held her; when he swayed, she straightened him… Holding on to each other tightly, stuck to each other in the ups and downs of the world

In this sentence we are told about love, and how the members of a couple support and help each other to develop.

38. Because we all, all of us, have something to say to others, something that deserves to be celebrated or forgiven by others

We’ve all done something in our lives, good or bad. No one is useless.

39. I’m writing for the friends I don’t know yet. Those I know are already fed up with listening to me

The author strives to make it possible for others to get to know him.

40. Poor children are those who suffer most from the contradiction between a culture that commands consumption and a reality that prohibits it

Especially those without resources suffer severe consequences from the relationship between states of deprivation and the promotion of the consumer society.

41. Groupers, and other fish, are virtuous in the art of changing sex without surgery. Females become males and males become females with amazing ease; and no one is mocked or accused of betrayal of nature or the law of God

This sentence expresses that in nature aspects such as sex or sexual identity are not a reason for mockery or punishment in other species, unlike what often happens in ours.

42. Is it lawful to confuse the depth of a class with the well-being of a country?

A single social class is not a country, it is not representative. In order to measure well-being, the well-being of all those who are part of it must be measured.

43. And there was nothing wrong with it, and there was nothing wrong with my heart being broken by using it so much

Although loving may hurt, this pain is not bad since it is derived from what we feel.

44. Poor criminals are the villains of the film; rich criminals write the script and direct the actors

The author criticizes the fact that not everyone is looked at with the same magnifying glass: the poor with little power are crushed and blamed, while those with great power benefit from it.

45. The best that the world has is in the many worlds that the world contains, the different music of life, its pains and colors: the thousand and one ways of living and saying, believing and creating, eating, working, dancing, playing, loving, suffering and celebrating

The world is diverse, and in this we find its greatest wealth and beauty.