Brazil

"Ordem e Progresso [Order and Progress]"

"The crimson monads of the deep, The flying-fish with fitful leap, Assai palms of matchless grace, The giant in the vine’s embrace,— These were his books while journeying on To read the unknown Amazon."

"We must not forget that the world needs to be fed. France and Germany, for example, use more than 50% of their territories for agriculture, while Brazil only uses 8% of its land for food production. 61% of our territory is preserved! Our policy is zero tolerance for crime, including environmental crimes. I reiterate that any initiative to help or support the preservation of the Amazon rainforest, or other biomes, must be treated in full respect of Brazilian sovereignty. We also reject attempts to instrumentalize environmental issues or indigenous policy in favor of foreign political and economic interests, especially those disguised as good intentions. We are ready to harness our full potential sustainably through partnerships and added value."

"Brazil is safer and more welcoming today. We have just extended visa exemptions to countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada, and we are currently considering the adoption of similar measures for China and India, among others. With more safety and convenience, we want everyone to be able to visit Brazil, and particularly our Amazon rainforest, with all its vastness and natural beauty. The Amazon is not being destroyed nor consumed by fire, as the media is falsely portraying. Each one of you may check what I am saying. Do not hesitate to visit Brazil. It is way different than the country portrayed in many newspapers and television shows."

"I've been impressed with the greatness of Brazil. I've seen the compatibility between your own people and ours—the origins of your country; the struggle for freedom against colonial rule; the courage, the tenacity, the dedication that was required in our country and yours to explore new frontiers, to carve out for ourselves a better life, a greater life, and a position of leadership throughout the whole world."

"Inflation is bad for growth—this has become one of the most widely accepted economic nostrums of our age. But see how you feel about it after digesting the following piece of information. During the 1960s and the 1970s, Brazil's average inflation rate was 42% a year. Despite this, Brazil was one of the fastest growing economies in the world for those two decades—its per capita income grew at 4.5% a year during this period. In contrast, between 1996 and 2005, during which time Brazil embraced the neo-liberal orthodoxy, especially in relation to macroeconomic policy, its inflation rate averaged a much lower 7.1% a year. But during this period, per capita income in Brazil grew at only 1.3% a year. If you are not entirely persuaded by the Brazilian case—understandable, given that hyperinflation went side by side with low growth in the 1980s and the early 1990s—how about this? During its 'miracle' years, when its economy was growing at 7% a year in per capita terms, [South] Korea had inflation rates close to 20%-17.4% in the 1960s and 19.8% in the 1970s. These were rates higher than those found in several Latin American countries ... Are you still convinced that inflation is incompatible with economic success?"

"Brazil is my way to see the world. Being born in that country means: "you don't have a wall separating the physical reality from the magical reality.""

"“I want to find out who is supplying items to a government agency. Is there an easy way to find out?” The librarian folded his handkerchief into a square on his palm before he answered. “This is Brazil. There is no easy way to find out anything.”"

"An utter humiliation for Brazil, just got worse! ... A devastated Brazil; a devastated nation."

"I've been actually visiting Brazil frequently for the last period, and Brazil is now on the cusp of some major breakthroughs with respect to racism. I think that they have the opportunity to choose whether to follow the example of the US and South Africa"

"Brasil, um sonho intenso, um raio vívido De amor e de esperança à terra desce."

"Brazil is bigger than Europe, wilder than Africa, and weirder than Baffin Land."

"What is black in the United States is not what's black in Brazil."

"In Brazil we have a saying, 'You're married, but you're not dead'."

"[T]he Brazilian mindset was forged by slavery above any other thing. Slavery existed, unchallenged, for a long time (about three or four centuries, depending on place) and laid deep roots. These roots are everywhere... So, considering all these impacting aspects, we can say, quite safely, that Brazil is still struggling to leave behind the heavy burden of slavery, that still hinders its progress towards the future."

"It is a subject for congratulation that the great Empire of Brazil has taken the initiatory step toward the abolition of slavery. Our relations with that Empire, always cordial, will naturally be made more so by this act. It is not too much to hope that the Government of Brazil may hereafter find it for its interest, as well as intrinsically right, to advance toward entire emancipation more rapidly than the present act contemplates."

"All of Brazil is crying right now."

"Every fan in Brazil is crying right now."

"This place is great. Really comfortable. I'm just going to get settled in. Time to move on. Get on with my life. Yes, absolutely. Now, like I said, it was a long time ago. Let it go. Seriously. Definitely more my style than Panama or Hoboken, I guess. No. If I'm honest, I just got kind of bored of boozing."

"To live in Brazil sucks, but it is good."

"Brazil, I know is the possessor of a fine tradition of political freedom and stability, and of social and religious tolerance. It also has a rich cultural heritage, great natural resources, an already very substantial industrial base and internal market, and a highly talented people. The remarkable progress made in the last thirty years, with the creation in Brazil of the greatest industrial center in Latin America, provides solid ground for confidence that all the elements exist for an even more brilliant early future."

"Brazil has rediscovered itself, and this rediscovery is being expressed in its people's enthusiasm and their desire to mobilize to face the huge problems that lie ahead of us."

"What we are told of the inhabitants of Brazil, that they never die but of old age, is attributed to the tranquility and serenity of their climate; I rather attribute it to the tranquility and serenity of their souls, which are free from all passion, thought, or any absorbing and unpleasant labors. Those people spend their lives in an admirable simplicity and ignorance, without letters, without law, without king, without any manner of religion."

"By "Mongrel Complex" I mean the inferiority in which Brazilians put themselves, voluntarily, in comparison to the rest of the world. Brazilians are the reverse Narcissus, who spit in their own image. Here is the truth: we can't find personal or historical pretexts for self-esteem."

"Writing in the 1950s, the playwright Nelson Rodrigues saw his countrymen as afflicted with a sense of inferiority, and he coined a phrase that Brazilians now use to describe it: "the mongrel complex". Brazil has always aspired to be taken seriously as a world power by the heavyweights, and so it pains Brazilians that world leaders could confuse their country with Bolivia, as Ronald Reagan once did, or dismiss a nation so large – it has 180 million people – as "not a serious country", as Charles de Gaulle did."

"Nobody would want to go in for a partnership with Brazil."

"The history of Brazil in many respects parallels that of the United States. Both are nations which have carved civilizations out of the wilderness. Both have been endowed with great natural resources and both have been developed by people whose dominant motive is freedom."

"With clearer light, Cross of the South, shine forth In blue Brazilian skies; And thou, O river, cleaving half the earth From sunset to sunrise, From the great mountains to the Atlantic waves Thy joy’s long anthem pour."

"Whereas our old world is more than ever ruled by the insane attempt to breed people racially pure, like race-horses and dogs, the Brazilian nation for centuries has been built upon the principle of a free and unsuppressed miscegenation… It is moving to see children of all colours – chocolate, milk, and coffee – come out of their schools arm-in-arm... There is no colour-bar, no segregation, no arrogant classification... for who here would boast of absolute racial purity?"