6 Quotes & Sayings By Subcomandante Marcos

Subcomandante Marcos was born in the state of Michoacán in the winter of 1963 and spent much of his youth in the countryside where his father worked in agriculture. He attended several primary and secondary schools in Mexico and took part in the administration of the Zapatista movement between 1981 and 1983. The events that occurred during that period resulted in his capture by state security forces and four years of imprisonment. In 1988 he was released, and after a period of wandering throughout Mexico, immigrated to San Cristóbal de las Casas in 1994 Read more

He is one of the founders of the EZLN (Zapatista Army for National Liberation) and is considered one of its most important figures. From 1995 to 2000 he served as its spokesperson and was selected as Subcomandante Acéntaro (Subcomandante of the North). The EZLN, also known as "The Other Campaign," is a social uprising that began with the uprising against NAFTA in 1994.

It has since become an international symbol for Mexico's indigenous peoples' struggle for cultural autonomy and self-determination within a Mexican republic committed to democracy and social justice.

1
But I'll tell you more about that later... or maybe I won't, because some wounds just don't heal even if you talk them out. On the contrary, the more you dress them up in words, the more they bleed. Subcomandante Marcos
2
We are sorry for the inconvenience, but this is a revolution. Subcomandante Marcos
3
Then the lion stares at it. It stares at its prey. Like this.' (Old Antonio frowns and fastens his black eyes on me.) 'The poor little animal that is going to die just looks. It looks at the lion, who is staring at him. The little animal no longer sees itself, it sees what the lion sees, it looks at the little animal image in the lion's stare, it sees that the lion sees it as small and weak. The little animal never thought before about whether it was small and weak. It was just an animal, neither big nor small, neither strong nor weak. But now it looks at what the lion is seeing, it looks at fear. And by looking at what the lion is seeing, the little animal convinces itself that it is small and weak. And, by looking at the fear that the lion sees, it feels afraid. And now the little animal does not look at anything. Its bones go numb, just like when water gets hold of us at night in the cold. And then the little animal just surrenders, it lets itself go and the lion gets it. That is how the lion kills. It kills by staring. Subcomandante Marcos
4
We are nothing if we walk alone we are everything when we walk together in step with other dignified feet. Subcomandante Marcos
5
The word of the oldest of the old of our peoples didn't stop. It spoke the truth, saying that our feet couldn't walk alone, that our history of pain and shame was repeated and multiplied in the flesh and blood of the brothers and sisters of other lands and skies. Subcomandante Marcos