This is what you learned in college," the narrator tells you early on. "A man desires the satisfaction of his desire; a woman desires the condition of desiring.

There is no rose without thorns.

Wait for the fruit to fall into your hand.

Oh Esperanza!' said Isabel, jumping up and down and clapping.'I think my heart is dancing.

We are like the phoenix," said Abuelita. "Rising again, with a new life ahead of us.

I am poor, but I am rich. I have my children, I have a garden with roses, and I have my faith and the memories of those who have gone before me. What more is there?

Our Land is alive, Esperanza...This whole valley breathes and lives...He picked up a handful of earth and studied it. Did you know that when you lie down on the land, you can feel it breathe? That you can feel its heart beating.