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Although Spanish is a common language in most countries of Latin America and in the 80% of the Iberian Peninsula, Mexican has some characteristics that make it special and unique.

Says a traditional Mexican song: “Mexico lindo y querido” (beautiful and beloved México). And certainly we just have to visit any place in Mexico to corroborate its beauty. It is a beautiful and beloved country, not only for its landscapes and impressive forests, deserts, beaches and archaeological sites, but also for its particular way of speaking and due to the nice Mexican accent.

An exciting way to delve into it is through the most famous Mexican quotes. All of them, without a doubt, is part of the Mexican popular culture and of what it means to “be Mexican”. Remember that quotes are always related of a bigger story, and the persons who said the next quotes are part of the Mexican history.

These Mexican quotes inspire and help us to open a window into the culture of this incredible country. So if you are considering visiting Mexico soon, and want to know who said the quotes that your Mexican friends mention, or just get into Mexican culture, keep reading with attention.

We are going to explain to you some of the famous Mexican quotes that can serve as inspiration and motivation to get closer to Mexican literature, music, and culture and, incidentally, learn or improve your Spanish.

Famous writers and poets, such as Carlos Fuentes and Octavio Paz, appear on this list of the most famous Mexican quotes. And, of course, we cannot forget the iconic and beloved Frida Kahlo, who not only has a legacy of paintings and self-portraits, but also a series of famous quotes that continue to inspire entire generations.

Some of the most famous and inspiring quotes from Mexican history

Always keep in mind that making interpretations of the quotes said by famous people without knowing the life and events of those people can lead us to misunderstand them or even misunderstood history.

One of the known pre-Columbian poets, Nezahualcoyotl -which in the Nahuatl language means “Fasting Coyote”- wrote:

“Que tu corazón se enderece: aquí nadie vivirá para siempre”
“May your heart be straightened: here no one will live forever”

Although it seems simple, in that phrase much of the conception of the life of the pre-Columbian peoples of Mexico is condensed, which is deeply attached to the conception of death. Hence, the celebration of the Day of the Dead is one of the most important in Mexican culture.

Then, during the colonial era, women faced exclusion from studies, for this reason, the Mexican poet Juana Inés de la Cruz, when defending the right to study of women in universities, said:

“No estudio para saber más, sino para ignorar menos”
“I do not study to know more, but to ignore less”

In the same vein, Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez wrote in a letter after being captured by the colonial army during the War of Independence:

“¡Tantos soldados para custodiar una pobre mujer, pero yo con mi sangre les formaré un patrimonio a mis hijos!”
“So many soldiers to guard a poor woman, but with my blood I will make a heritage for my children!”

a phrase that abbreviates the patriotic spirit of the formation of the Mexican nation.

Benito Juárez, who was president of Mexico in the 19th century, affirmed in defense of democracy:

“Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el derecho al respeto ajeno es la paz”
“Among individuals, as among nations, the right to be respected by others is peace”

But this was first said by the famous philosopher Emmanuel Kant.

Most people know that phrase of the peasant liberator and revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who gave life to the revolutionary movement of the early twentieth century:

“Mejor morir de pie que vivir toda la vida arrodillado”
“Better to die on your feet than to live your whole life on your knees”

Although all of them are inspiring and speak of the struggles that the Mexican people have faced throughout their history, do not think that all Mexican politicians have had the same luck. An example of this is the famous ambiguous phrase of the former president of Mexico Luis Echeverria Alvarez, who in the 1970s said, when giving an interview:

“Ni nos perjudica, ni nos beneficia, sino todo lo contrario”
“It neither harms us nor benefits us, but quite the contrary”

That is, it seems like he said absolutely nothing! My personal opinion (I am not Mexican and I don’t know the live of Luis Echeverria Alvarez) is that in that phrase we can understand two different things:
– Why should we do or accept something if it won’t change anything? Is it worth to lose our time with that?
But on the contrary:
– That is something that will help to stay as we are, and that can be positive. So it can be a good thing to dedicate our effort on it.
So I would say that it is not an absolute nonsense, and that the meaning depends on what we are talking about.
The problem is that it is something than sometimes politicians say when they don’t want to give many explanations about something.

The poets of the 20th century inherited some beautiful phrases that cannot be missing from this list. Like the one written by Amado Nervo:

“Si vivir es sólo soñar, hagamos el bien soñando”
“If living is just dreaming, let’s do the good things we dream”

Or the inspiring quote attributed to the poet Jaime Sabines:

“Si sobrevives, si persistes, canta, sueña. El viento de las horas barre las calles, los caminos. Los árboles esperan, tú no esperes. Éste es el tiempo de vivir, el único”
“If you survive, if you persist, sing, dream. The wind of the hours sweeps the streets, the paths. The trees wait, you don’t wait. This is the time to live, the only one”

And of course one quote by the great Mexican writer Rosario Castellanos. Let’s remember one of his quotes, who said about herself:

“A veces, tan ligera como un pez en el agua, me muevo entre las cosas feliz y alucinada”
“Sometimes, as light as a fish in water, I move between things happy and hallucinated”