Maybe your country is only a place you make up in your own mind. Something you dream about and sing about. Maybe it's not a place on the map at all, but just a story full of people you meet and places you visit, full of books and films you've been to. I'm not afraid of being homesick and having no language to live in. I don't have to be like anyone else. I'm walking on the wall and nobody can stop me.

~ Hugo Hamilton

Hugo Hamilton Anchoring Attachment Belonging Country Empowerment Home Homelessness Independence Individuality Inspirational Nationality Roots Self Assurance Self Awareness Self Containment Self Determination Self Esteem Self Reliance Self Respect Self Sufficiency Self Trust

People say you're born innocent, but it's not true. You inherit all kinds of things that you can do nothing about. You inherit your identity, your history, like a birthmark that you can't wash off. ... We are born with our heads turned back, but my mother says we have to face into the future now. You have to earn your own innocence, she says. You have to grow up and become innocent.

~ Hugo Hamilton

Hugo Hamilton Character Future Growing Up Growth Heritage History Identity Innocence Maturity Past Personal History Personality Predispositions Self Discovery

Maybe you have to live under cover for a while before you can find your true character.

~ Hugo Hamilton

Hugo Hamilton Character Growth Identity Self Discovery

-Nobody can force you to smile, she says. -What? I ask. But I know she's not even talking to me, only to herself, as if she's the last person left in the room. -They can make you show your teeth, but what good is that? Nobody can make you smile against your will.

~ Hugo Hamilton

Hugo Hamilton Honesty Smile True

One day, my father said there was nothing outside infinity. He said the universe was like a cardboard box with God sitting outside surrounded by light, but I wanted to know if maybe God was sitting inside another cardboard box with the light on, and how could anyone be sure how many cardboard boxes there are.

~ Hugo Hamilton

Hugo Hamilton God Infinity Universe