- Nothing else has any efficacy, I might as well be myself. - But your yourself sucks! - It is, lamentably, all I have.

Every time you hear anyone talk about the Caribbean, whether it's Caribbeans themselves or people outside, there's always talk about women's bodies. Talk about this voluptuousness, this kind of stereotype of what a Caribbean person is. And I think these are stereotypes that even people inside the culture, we actually sometimes claim them and we're very proud.

It's exactly at these moments, when all hope has vanished, that prayer has dominion.

I never wanted to be away from the family. Intuitively, I knew how easily distances could harden and become permanent.

You're the only person I've ever met who can stand a bookstore as long as I can.

You need to learn how to walk the world, he told me. There's a lot out there.

Literature is less involved in giving you answers and more dedicated to giving you insight.