Puerto Rico Quotes

• You know, you may not be born in Puerto Rico, but Puerto Rican is definitely born in you.

  Rosie Perez

  May, Born, Knows

  "Rosie Perez' U.S.-Puerto Rico Documentary". Interview with Ed Gordon, www.npr.org. April 27, 2006.

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• I was like the only diverse kid in my high school, and I'm half-Puerto Rican. But yeah, I have a huge family and tons of cousins in Puerto Rico. We actually hung out with them last summer, and it was awesome. But I wish my grandfather had taught my dad Spanish when he was younger so he could've taught me when I was younger, and sometimes he does, too. It's a shame.

  Aubrey Plaza

  Summer, Cousin, Dad

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• Without question, so many people, throughout my life, never think of Puerto Rico as part of the United States. Many people have no idea what the relationship is between Puerto Rico and the United States. And certainly, I have been asked if we are citizens.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Thinking, Ideas, People

  "Sotomayor on Puerto Rico, Not Speaking Spanish… and Poker". voicesofny.org. January 15, 2013.

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• They (the people of Puerto Rico) are truly the sweetest people on earth.

  Johnny Depp

  People, Earth, Sweetest

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• Puerto Rico loses out on billions of dollars annually because it is treated unequally under a range of federal programs, including tax credits available to millions of households in the States that do not pay federal income taxes.

  Pedro Pierluisi

  Dollars, Income, Credit

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• In Puerto Rico, we have a lot of traditions. We eat a very typical thing that's called 'pasteles' - it's almost like a tamale made of bananas, and we make it all together. Like, all the women of the family unite, and it's a very big deal, a very big thing.

  Joyce Giraud

  Together, Typical, Tamales

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• The one key difference is that Puerto Rico is a colonial territory. We don't have representation. We have a difficult time getting funding from the federal government. This is critical component that we need to change.

  Ricky Rossello

  Difficult Times, Difficult, Representation

  Source: www.pbs.org

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• Without question, so many people, throughout my life, never think of Puerto Rico as part of the United States.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Thinking, People, United States

  Source: eldiariony.com

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• I didn't know I had this many fans in Puerto Rico. I'm going to carry this memory to my grave.

  Allen Iverson

  Memories, Fans, Graves

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• This is your heritage,' he said, as if from this dance we could know about his own childhood, about the flavor and grit of tenement buildings in Spanish Harlem, and projects in Red Hook, and dance halls, and city parks, and about how his own Paps, how he had beat him, how he taught him to dance, as if we could hear Spanish in his movements, as if Puerto Rico was a man in a bathrobe, grabbing another beer from the fridge and raising it to drink, his head back, still dancing, still steeping and snapping perfectly in time.

  Justin Torres

  Beer, Men, Cities

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• Jesse Jackson's wife was arrested in Puerto Rico while protesting the naval bombings there. Jesse said he was holding a meeting with four of his secretaries to decide what to do and that these meetings could run well into the night.

  Jay Leno

  Running, Night, Wife

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• Actually, I am asking for this: for something to be done. I think that if it had been one of the 50 states, something would have already been done. Unfortunately, you know, Puerto Rico is a territory. Very often they forget about Puerto Rico.

  Marco Rubio

  Thinking, Asking, Done

  Source: www.univision.com

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• The overwhelming majority of Puerto Rico is completely, completely alienated from the political structure. Colonialism is really, really strong and alive in Puerto Rico. And the politicians have taken full advantage of that. We have a debt of $74 billion, caused primarily by the system and the political structure that exists in Puerto Rico.

  Oscar Lopez Rivera

  Strong, Taken, Political

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• I think that there are times when Puertoricans think, "Oh, we are blessed with the relationship with the U.S." But the end result will not be that. If Puerto Rico becomes similar to Hawaii - well, the Hawaiian Native population is about 9 percent. And if we go to the prisons, the overwhelming majority of the prisoners are the Natives. So I can anticipate that Puerto Ricans will not be better off by the annexation of the U.S. of Puerto Rico. I also know for a fact that once any nation or any people lose their identity, their language, their lifestyles, that they are a little dehumanized.

  Oscar Lopez Rivera

  Blessed, Thinking, People

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• America has always been the richest and most secure, and sometimes the most dangerous country in the world. In the early years, the danger was to everybody near us, slaves, Native Americans, Mexicans. It finally expanded in 1898 to the Caribbean, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines.

  Noam Chomsky

  Country, Native American, Years

  Source: www.commonwealmagazine.org

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• Internal self-government under a local constitution was authorized by Congress and approved by the residents in 1952, but federal law is supreme in Puerto Rico and residents do not have voting representation in the Congress.

  Dick Thornburgh

  Government, Self, Law

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• You want a lesson? I'll give you a lesson. How about a geography lesson? My father's from Puerto Rico. My mother's from El Salvador. And neither one of those is Mexico.

  Jennifer Esposito

  Mother, Father, Giving

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• When I left Chicago, people said, 'Careful with that Texas heat'. I'm from Puerto Rico. I know heat.

  Amaury Nolasco

  Heat, Knows, Rico

  Biography/Person Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• My grandfather came over from Puerto Rico and raised his kids speaking English so that it would be easier for them to assimilate.

  Aubrey Plaza

  Kids, Grandfather, Would Be

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• Over 90 percent of parents in Puerto Rico want their children to be totally fluent in English.

  Luis Fortuno

  Children, Parent, Want

  "As GOP Races On, Puerto Rico Could Be Battleground". www.npr.org. February 28, 2012.

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• I was ballet dancing at four, playing piano by six, and doing commercials by 12. When I was 21, I was on the number one live comedy show in Puerto Rico. I told my parents, 'I'm going to New York to become a performer.' And I left.

  Roselyn Sanchez

  New York, Piano, Numbers

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• I never thought anything was strange in Puerto Rico other than the big mosquitos; because I was born there, nothing was really foreign to me. I think what I saw strange coming to L.A. was that a lot of people are a little bit two-faced. In Puerto Rico, you don't get that.

  Joyce Giraud

  Thinking, Two, People

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• I was aware that my nomination was drawing a lot of attention, particularly in the Latino world, not just in Puerto Rico. It was touching.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Drawing, Touching, Attention

  Source: eldiariony.com

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• I got a message from one of my friends in Puerto Rico, who said, 'Sonia, there's nobody working in Puerto Rico - they're all glued to the television'. And I got a similar message from a friend in Spain.

  Sonia Sotomayor

  Spain, Television, Messages

  Source: eldiariony.com

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• Elijah Muhammad teaches us the truth of God beautified the planet by separating everybody in different countries for themselves: Chinese in China, English in England, Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico, Ethiopians in Ethiopia, Arabians in Arabia, Egyptians in Egypt, and Americans took that country and stole it away so there's always going to be trouble and chaos.

  Muhammad Ali

  Country, Egypt, Chinese

  "Parkinson" with Michael Parkinson, www.mirror.co.uk. 1971.

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