Mexicans

Mexicans are the people of Mexico, a country in North America. The most spoken language by Mexicans is the Mexican dialect of Spanish.

Mexicans are a good people. They live on little and work hard. They suffer from the influence of the Church, which, while I was in Mexico at least, was as bad as could be. The Mexicans were good soldiers, but badly commanded. The country is rich, and if the people could be assured a good government, they would prosper. ~ Ulysses S. Grant

Arranged alphabetically by author or source:
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · See also · External links

Quotes

I have always had a deep interest in Mexico and her people, and have always wished them well. I suppose the fact that I served there as a young man, and the impressions the country made upon my young mind, have a good deal to do with this. ~ Ulysses S. Grant

The Mexican's indifference toward death is fostered by his indifference toward life. He views not only death but also life as nontranscendent. Our songs, proverbs, fiestas and popular beliefs show very clearly that the reason death cannot frighten us is that "life has cured us of fear." It is natural, even desirable, to die, and the sooner the better. We kill because life–our own or another's–is of no value. ~ Octavio Paz

C

• There is nothing tougher than a tough Mexican, just as there is nothing gentler than a gentle Mexican, nothing more honest than an honest Mexican, and above all nothing sadder than a sad Mexican.
  • Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, p. 345

D

• When we wanted, a few years ago, a slice of Mexico, it was hinted that the Mexicans were an inferior race, that the old Castilian blood had become so weak that it would scarcely run down hill, and that Mexico needed the long, strong and beneficent arm of the Anglo-Saxon care extended over it. We said that it was necessary to its salvation, and a part of the "manifest destiny" of this Republic, to extend our arm over that dilapidated government.
  • Frederick Douglass, "What the Black Man Wants" (April 1865), Boston: Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society

G

• The Mexicans are a good people. They live on little and work hard. They suffer from the influence of the Church, which, while I was in Mexico at least, was as bad as could be. The Mexicans were good soldiers, but badly commanded. The country is rich, and if the people could be assured a good government, they would prosper. See what we have made of Texas and California — empires. There are the same materials for new empires in Mexico. I have always had a deep interest in Mexico and her people, and have always wished them well. I suppose the fact that I served there as a young man, and the impressions the country made upon my young mind, have a good deal to do with this.
  • Ulysses S. Grant, as quoted in Around the world with General Grant: a narrative of the visit of General U. S. Grant, ex-President of the United States, to various countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in 1877, 1878, 1879 : to which are added certain conversations with General Grant on questions connected with American politics and history (1879), by John Russell Young, pp. 448–449

• With an able general the Mexicans would make a good fight, for they are a courageous people.
  • Ulysses S. Grant, as quoted in Around the world with General Grant: a narrative of the visit of General U. S. Grant, ex-President of the United States, to various countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in 1877, 1878, 1879 : to which are added certain conversations with General Grant on questions connected with American politics and history (1879), by John Russell Young, p. 162

P

• The Mexican's indifference toward death is fostered by his indifference toward life. He views not only death but also life as nontranscendent. Our songs, proverbs, fiestas and popular beliefs show very clearly that the reason death cannot frighten us is that "life has cured us of fear." It is natural, even desirable, to die, and the sooner the better. We kill because life–our own or another's–is of no value. Life and death are inseparable, and when the former lacks meaning, the latter becomes equally meaningless. Mexican death is the mirror of Mexican life. And the Mexican shuts himself away and ignores both of them.
  • Octavio Paz, as quoted in Evergreen Review Reader: 1957-1966, by Barney Rosset, p. 172

S

• My dad's a beautiful man, but like a lot of Mexican men, or men in general, a lot of men have a problem with the balance of masculinity and femininity - intuition and compassion and tenderness - and get overboard with the macho thing. It took him a while to become more, I would say, conscious, evolved.
  • Carlos Santana, as quoted in The Mexicans (2005), by C.J. Shane, p. 202

• Sergeant Antonio "Poke" Espera: I don't hang out with Mexicans. Mexicans got $20,000 stereos, lots of guns and every time I go into a liquor store with one, I'm afraid we're gonna rob the place. Mexicans are scary motherfuckers.
  • "Combat Jack" (2008), by David Simon, Generation Kill, New York: Home Box Office

T

• Kate: Where are you taking us?
• Richie: Mexico.
• Kate: What's in Mexico?
• Richie: Mexicans.
  • From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), by Quentin Tarantino, California: Miramax Films

• They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists.
  • Donald Trump, as quoted in "Trump basically called Mexicans rapists again" (6 April 2018), by Z. Byron Wolf, CNN

• These aren't people. These are animals.
  • Donald Trump, as quoted in "Trump ramps up rhetoric on undocumented immigrants: 'These aren't people. These are animals.'" (16 May 2018), by Gregory Korte and Alan Gomez, USA Today

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Mexicans on Wikipedia