Joan Fuster i Ortells died in Sueca (Ribera Baixa) on June 21, 1992.
Valencian writer in Catalan, considered one of the most important essayists in Catalan of the twentieth century, his best known work, “Nosaltres el valencians”, (awarded the Lletra d’Or Prize in 1963), a book in which he proposes the “national reconstruction” of the Valencian Country within the framework of the Catalan-speaking territories, the “Països Catalans” (Catalan Countries), a term that he himself popularized.
Aimed by the extreme right, it suffered two bombings during the transition, during the so-called “Battle of Valencia”, (“Batalla de València“), anti-Catalan fascism was engaged in burning bookstores and assaulting cinemas and cultural figures.
One of his favorite literary games has always been aphorisms, of which I leave a few here:
“Don’t make your ignorance an argument “
“Tell the truth. That’s how you get revenge.”
“Hurry up and love. Late loves are no longer loves: they are mania.”
“The truth does not always coincide with justice, I warn you.”
“Between good and evil, we can aspire to joy.”
“Because I don’t dare say what I think, I try to say what I should think.”
“What liberation theology has to do is free itself from theology.”
“No hymns, no flags, no cheers”
“Believe me, young man: don’t pay attention! At your age, you spend your life cheating on yourself.”
“You have a body – enjoy it!”
“No one should be fooled: to say ‘good morning’ is to write literature.”
“Possible definition of philosophy. The art of grabbing a cow by the balls.”
“It is part of a good education to know when it is necessary to be rude.”
More aphorisms and thoughts vary in the section of “Cites” of the blog where you can found also the quote from Leonid Sukhorukov “An aphorism is a novel·la in a line“.
Here the link to the Joan Fuster Museum in Sueca
