“On days her spirits are low, like now, or between ballet seasons, when she has time to think about herself outside of the roles she plays, when she is not Odette in Swan Lake or Clara in The Nutcracker, she finds her feet reason enough to doubt the grace for which she is applauded when she spins on the tips of her toes.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“The show is over, but she cannot bring herself to even slow down. The more she thinks about quitting, the louder the applause, the longer the standing ovations, and the higher the expectations go.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“In Intramuros, and only in Intramuros, does he ever feel at rest. He thinks to himself here are the ancient stones of Manila; here are the secrets whispered by heroes to their paramours; here, they have plotted revolutions by candlelight, in air punctuated by mosquitoes, and harm, and roses”
Source: Assembling Alice
“With Mindy, I could be the man I wish I were, the man I doubt I could ever be, the man I wish I could take a pill to become.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“No, not really, not to change it, not to forget it, or rewrite it, but to remember it with caution so it is not too harmful to keep in mind.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“Surviving alone can be tough, but it's easier than being around people who are not happy to have you.”
“I turned anti-American. I joined the European chorus of disdain for America. And because, like many other Filipinos, including practically every Philippine president from the time of Emilio Aguinaldo, my father was a true disciple of the Great American Dream, I turned against him, too, as I thumbed my nose at the Americanization of the world.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“Here in Greece, I am now surrounded by ancient memories in slabs of stone, cold and lifeless and enduring, but where I grew up, my memories could have been warm as a toast, fluffy as freshly baked muffins, and as homey as the smell of bread wafting from the ovens.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“And so here it was, one of them bleak futures the Venice Biennale had flirted with in a bid to showcase the painful truths of the age.”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official
“He knew this was bound to happen but he kept himself at a safe distance, though he saw it come in every possible form, in trees felled to make way for new streets or cities, in chemicals that mimicked the human cells to invade the body, in every huff and puff of a CO2-emitting vehicle. What about the evil armies raised in the robotics classes of kindergarteners? What about the fake food with which the children had been fed? What about the devil winning the people’s vote on a ticket of broken promises, empty threats, and outright lies and a mission to send them straight to hell?”
Source: Manila Was A Long Time Ago - Official