Quotes from Sherman Alexie

There are things you should learn. Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you. Maybe you don't wear a watch, but your skeletons do, and they always know what time it is. Now, these skeletons are made of memories, dreams, and voices. And they can trap you in the in-between, between touching and becoming. But they're not necessarily evil, unless you let them be.

Can a writer forget something that he's written in one of his own books? Yes, of course.

Doesn't an Indian tribe finally surrender to colonization by becoming as capitalistic as our conquerors? Isn't indigenous economic sovereignty one of the sneakiest damn oxymorons of all time?

It's hard to be optimistic on the reservation. When a glass sits on a table here, people don't wonder if it's half filled or half empty. They just hope it's good beer. Still, Indians have a way of surviving. But it's almost like Indians can easily survive the big stuff. Mass murder, loss of language and land rights. It's the small things that hurt the most. The white waitress who wouldn't take an order, Tonto, the Washington Redskins.

I suppose, in many ways, one never stops loving the people they loved during their youth. Or hating the people they hated.

He was like some kind of Star Wars alien creature with invisible tentacles that sucked your thoughts out of your brain.

De repente comprendí que, si hay que tomarse en serio cada momento de un libro, entonces también hay que tomarse en serio cada momento de una vida.

Junior based all of his decisions on his dreams and visions, which created a lot of problems.

Whites and Indians laughed at most of the same jokes, but they laughed for different reasons.

If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing. —

I read with equal parts joy and desperation. I loved those books, but I also knew that love had only one purpose. I was trying to save my life.

She never opened up a canyon in her soul and silently disappeared into the dark recesses.

She kissed him like he was a warrior; she kissed him like she was a warrior.

Well, he's scoring in that video." "That guy wasn't guarding him. Obama is POTUS. He is mother-effing POTUS. And even if he wasn't POTUS, Obama still had that ball hanging out so far that anybody could have blocked it. You could have blocked it, Ed. That shit was as weak as the public option in health care. If Obama pulled that on me, I'd block it like some racist-ass redneck senator from Alabama.

When Indian women begin the search for an Indian man, they carry a huge list of qualifications. He has to have a job. He has to be kind, intelligent, and funny. He has to dance and sing. He should know how to iron his own clothes. Braids would be nice. But as the screwed-up Indian men stagger through their lives, Indian women are forced to amend their list of qualifications. Eventually, Indian men need only to have their own teeth to get snagged.

Dozens of species of insects give virgin birth. Crayfish give virgin birth. Some honeybees give virgin birth. And Komodo dragons - yeah, those big lizards give virgin birth, too. Jeez, one human gives virgin birth and that jump-starts one of the world's greatest religions. But when a Komodo dragon gives virgin birth, do you know what it's thinking? It's thinking, 'This is Tuesday, right? I think this is Tuesday. What am I going to do on Wednesday?

Like the coffin was settling down for a long, long nap, for a forever nap.

Everybody prayed; everybody lied about it. Even atheists prayed on airplanes and bingo nights.

Mia nonna è stata l'unica a essere sicura al cento per cento che la mia fosse la decisione giusta. Pensa a tutte le persone che conoscerai mi aveva detto. Tutto il senso della vita sta in questo, capito? Conoscere tante persone. Mi piacerebbe poter venire con te.È una cosa così eccitante!

What are you laughing at?" Mrs. Jeremy asked me. "I used to think the world was broken down by tribes," I said. "By black and white. By Indian and white. But I know that isn't true. The world is only broken into two tribes: The people who are assholes and the people who are not." I walked out of the classroom and felt like dancing

So, back in the day, weird people threatened the strength of the tribe. If you weren't good for making food, shelter, or babies, then you were tossed out on your own." "But we're not primitive like that anymore." "Oh, yes, we are. Weird people still get banished." "You mean weird people like

Jeez, how stupid was I? What kind of job can a reservation Indian boy get? I was too young to deal blackjack at the casino, there were only about fifteen green grass lawns on the reservation (and none of their owners outsourced the mowing jobs), and the only paper route was owned by a tribal elder named Wally. And he had to deliver only fifty papers, so his job was more like a hobby.

Political Correctness has forced racists to become poets.

I didn't know what to do or say, so I just sat as quietly as he did. The silence got so big and real that it felt like three people sat on the porch.