Jacques Roumain (June 4, 1907 – August 18, 1944) was a Haitian writer, politician, and advocate of Marxism. He is considered one of the most prominent figures in Haitian literature. Although poorly known in the English-speaking world, Roumain has significant following in Europe, and is renowned in the Caribbean and Latin America. The great African-American poet, Langston Hughes, translated some of Roumain's greatest works, including Gouverneurs de la Rosée (Masters of the Dew). Although his life was short, Roumain managed to touch many aspects of Haitian life and culture.
Read more about Jacques Roumain: Life, Death and Legacy, Quotes, Selected Works
Famous quotes by jacques roumain:
“Peasants are a rude lot, and hard: life has hardened their hearts, but they are thick and awkward only in appearance; you have to know them. No one is more sensitive to what gives man the right to call himself a man: good-heartedness, bravery and virile brotherhood.”
—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)
“‘Maman’, said Annaïse, her voice strangely weak. ‘Here is the water.’
A thin blade of silver came forward in the plain and the peasants ran alongside it, crying and singing.
...
‘Oh, Manuel, Manuel, why are you dead?’ moaned Délira.
‘No’, said Annaïse, and she smiled through her tears, ‘no, he is not dead’.
She took the old woman’s hand and pressed gently against her belly where new life stirred.”
—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)
“He touched the soil, caressing its grains between his fingers: ‘I am this: this earth here, and I have it in my blood. Look at my color; it seems as though the earth faded onto me and onto you too. This country belongs to the black man and each time others tried to take it away from us, we mowed down injustice with our machetes’.”
—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)
“Misfortune is never invited. And it comes and sits at the table without permission and it eats, leaving nothing but bones.”
—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)
“You cannot eat a cluster of grapes at once, but it is very easy if you eat them one by one.”
—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)