Perhaps the greatest challenge has been trying to keep my time to myself and my private life private in order to do my job. Everything that is most mine belongs to everyone now. Sandra Cisneros
The older I get, the more I'm conscious of ways very small things can make a change in the world. Tiny little things, but the world is made up of tiny matters, isn't it? Sandra Cisneros
In the business world, I did fairly well, but wasn't happy. A bout of sciatica put me flat on my back. All I could do was read, listen to my mother's stories about the Sandovals, and daydream: a return to self. My writing career had begun. Sandra Cisneros
I was a little press writer when the National Endowment for the Arts came to my rescue and gave me an award. I couldn't buy a light bulb. Almost more than the money, the awards are important because they show that someone believes in you. Sandra Cisneros
I spent my thirties living out of boxes and moving every six months to a year. It was my cloud period: I just wandered like a cloud for ten years, following the food supply. I was a hunter, gatherer, an academic migrant. Sandra Cisneros
I felt a failure because I couldn't sustain myself from what I earned from my writing. My day jobs were what mattered, and it was hard to even get those because universities wouldn't hire me as a real writer. Sandra Cisneros
Sometimes I feel I can't quite master my written and spoken Spanish, because I'm too much a student of English. I would need another lifetime to learn it. Sandra Cisneros
I realize that when I moved out of my father's house I shocked and frightened him because I needed a room of my own, a space of my own to reinvent myself. Sandra Cisneros
One press account said I was an overnight success. I thought that was the longest night I've ever spent. Sandra Cisneros
In my youth, daydreaming nurtured me, provided a safe haven. I'd sleep for twelve hours and even when awake escape to the safe place in my mind. Sandra Cisneros
I thought that strange syntax was the language of story books. I didn't realize those were poor translations... English from Edwardian times. Sandra Cisneros
I am a woman, and I am a Latina. Those are the things that make my writing distinctive. Those are the things that give my writing power. Sandra Cisneros
All of my work is influenced by fairy tales, and I hope my work shows Hans Christian Anderson's influence. Sandra Cisneros
And the nice thing about writing a novel is you take your time, you sit with the character sometimes nine years, you look very deeply at a situation, unlike in real life when we just kind of snap something out. Sandra Cisneros
I'm afraid I'm still trying to find that balance. Especially now that everyone wants a piece of me. I find that I have to become more and more reclusive, and pick and choose when I am public and when I am private. Sandra Cisneros
My feminism is humanism, with the weakest being those who I represent, and that includes many beings and life forms, including some men. Sandra Cisneros
Revenge only engenders violence, not clarity and true peace. I think liberation must come from within. Sandra Cisneros
One of my favorite writers is Hans Christian Anderson. His stories speak to the times. Sandra Cisneros