The thoughts and phrases of Antonio Machado have remained a legacy for humanity This Spanish playwright and poet, a member of the literary movement called the generation of ’98, began in the modernist movement and later transformed into a lyric with symbolic and philosophical content. His works are among the most important in literature in Spanish, and seeing the author’s clarity of thought it is easy to understand why.
Among his writings, Soledades, Campos de Castilla and Nuevas Canciones stand out, and in these books, as in the rest of his works, nuances appear full of humanist reflections and a remarkable civic commitment. Antonio Machado’s phrases reflect a patriotic feeling of a country in crisis and human commitment.
To understand the thoughts of this poet and playwright, we have prepared a compilation of Antonio Machado’s best phrases about various nuances of his life.
1. In his heart he had the thorn of a passion. I managed to tear it off one day: I can’t feel my heart anymore
A way to explain the emptiness and suffering after a breakup.
2. To dialogue, ask first; then… listen
This phrase talks about the importance of the listening attitude to understand ourselves and communicate in some way.
3.Everything that is ignored is despised
One of Antonio Machado’s phrases that tells us that when you don’t know the value of something, you reject it.
4. I have my friends in my loneliness, when I am with them, how far away they are
In this phrase, Machado tells us about loneliness in the company.
5. Every fool confuses value and price
There are things that have a type of value that cannot be bought.
6. Slowly and well, that doing things well matters more than doing them
Emphasizing that time and dedication is what matters.
7. Learn to doubt and you will end up doubting your own doubt; In this way God rewards the skeptic and the believer
Let doubt not keep us from the path of curiosity.
8. If it is good to live, it is even better to dream, and best of all, wake up
The desire to achieve and imagine something higher without leaving reality aside.
9. Today is always still
Of all Antonio Machado’s phrases, This one in particular tells us about hope
10. Benevolence does not mean tolerance of what is vile, or conformity with what is inept, but rather the will to do good.
This phrase explains that good will is what must prevail.
11. Men of Spain, neither the past is dead nor is tomorrow, nor yesterday, written
Machado shows hope in the face of the political situation that his country was experiencing at that time.
12. Pay attention: a lonely heart is not a heart
In some way we all need someone’s company.
13. The truth is what it is, and it is still true even if you think the other way around
Machado dedicated many writings to address the concept of truth.
14. There are two kinds of men: those who live talking about virtues and those who limit themselves to having them.
It is better to make our virtues known through our actions.
15. They say that a man is not a man until he hears his name from the lips of a woman.
In this phrase Machado exposes sensuality and romanticism.
16. Death is something we should not fear because, while we are, death is not and when death is, we are not
May the constant fear of death not block us from the experience of living our reality.
17. After the truth there is nothing as beautiful as fiction
Another phrase where Machado addresses the topic of truth by comparing it with that magical realism that he captured in his writings.
18. Help me understand what I’m telling you and I’ll explain it to you better
The importance of cooperative learning and observe from the perspective of the other.
19. It is typical of men with medium heads to attack everything that does not fit in their heads.
Reject something that is difficult to understand.
20. In Spain, out of every ten heads, nine attack and one thinks
In this phrase, Machado once again shows his position regarding the political situation in the country.
21. In politics only those who put the candle where the wind blows succeed; Never those who expect the air to blow where they put the candle
In politics, doing things the right way leads to success.
22. Walker there is no path, the path is made by walking
One of Antonio Machado’s most famous phrases that tells us about moving forward by following our own compass and building our own route.
23. No matter how much a man is worth, he will never have a higher value than being a man.
It mentions the value of the person themselves, above their social, economic, race and cultural condition.
24. Concepts belong to everyone and are imposed on us from outside; intuitions are always ours
Sometimes following the opinions of others takes us away from ourselves.
25. Your truth? No, the truth and come with me to look for it. Yours, keep it
The importance of making our opinion prevail over that of the other.
26. Without time, that invention of Satan, the world would lose the anguish of waiting and the comfort of hope
The appreciation of the passage of time is always personal.
27. Did you tell half the truth? They’ll say you’re lying twice if you say the other half.
In this reflection, Machado refers once again to the concept of honesty focusing on the use of half-truths.
28. Flee from stages, pulpits, platforms and pedestals. Never lose contact with the ground; because only then will you have an approximate idea of your height
Being in contact with that reality that allows us to see who we are clearly.
29. Our hours are minutes when we hope to know, and centuries when we know what can be learned
In this phrase, Machado once again touches on the topic of time as a particular experience from different perspectives.
30. In matters of culture and knowledge, you only lose what you keep, you only gain what you give
Machado’s position regarding culture and education is that progress can be made when we decide to share them.
31. Worse than seeing the black reality is not seeing it
When we decide to remain passive in the face of an unpleasant situation.
32. Blessed is the one who forgets the reason for the trip and, in the star, in the flower, in the sky, leaves his soul caught
Phrase about the importance of living the process and the learning it generates.
33. Judging or correcting us means applying a foreign measure to one’s own cloth
Avoid disqualifying yourself with unnecessary comparisons.
34. Man is by nature the paradoxical beast, an absurd animal that needs logic
This phrase tells us about the importance of using logic.
35. Of every ten heads, nine attack and one thinks
The author once again emphasizes the importance of the use of reason.
36. Fruit picked without seasoning is not worth anything… Even if a brute praises you, he must not be right.
Things must be spontaneous if they do not lose their essence.
37. I disdain the romances of hollow tenors and the chorus of crickets that sing to the moon. I stop to distinguish the voices from the echoes, and I only hear, among the voices, one
This phrase reflects the author’s relationship with his poetry.
38. Do you say that nothing is created? Potter, to your pots. Make your glass and don’t care if it can’t make mud
About the attitude of creating something own and original.
39. Don’t trust words: In this life you will find many people who live badly and speak well.
We must put a filter on the criticism and messages that come from outside.
40. The eyes because you sigh, know it well, the eyes in which you look at yourself are eyes because they see you
From this phrase by Antonio Machado it is clear that in our gaze we can project what we feel.
41. Whenever I deal with men from the countryside I think about how much they know and we don’t know, and how little it matters to them to know how much we know.
In this phrase we can see the position that the author had regarding the right to share knowledge and education.
42. In my solitude I have seen very clear things that are not true
In an intimate space you can reflect on aspects that are experienced as real and turn out not to be true.
43. In asking what you know, you should not waste time… And to unanswered questions, who can answer you?
We should not put a lot of energy into things over which we have no control.
44. No one should be afraid of what they think, even if their thinking appears to conflict with the most basic laws of logic.
This phrase encourages spontaneity and recognition of one’s own. One of Antonio Machado’s phrases of a moral nature.
45. Our Spanish yawns
Regarding the crisis that the Spanish people were experiencing due to the political situation in the country.
46. In the despair and melancholy of your memory, sad, my heart is watered
The author’s pessimistic attitude towards the political situation in his country at that time.
47. No one knows what is known, although we all know that there is someone who knows about everything.
This phrase talks about the way they approached knowledge in those times.
48. The hand of the pious always takes away honor from us; but he never offends by giving us his hand, the fighter
Machado in some way wanted to expose the position of man against the authority of the powerful.
49. Given the choice between the truth and the pleasure of seeking it, we would choose the latter
Machado exposing the fragility of the human being.
50.Joy consists of having health and an empty skull
Joy as a result of physical well-being and free from thoughts that bind.
51. The lack of vices adds very little to virtue
From time to time certain habits come in handy that give us experience.
52. But look in your mirror for the other
The bond with another human being is projection.
53. Our hours are minutes when we hope to know, and centuries when we know what can be learned
On the relativity of time. When a situation exceeds the threshold of our attention, time feels shorter.
54. Coin that is in hand, perhaps it should be saved. The coin of the soul is lost if it is not given
There are spaces that only correspond to our privacy and others that only make sense if they are shared.
55. One of the most effective remedies to ensure that things never change on the inside is to constantly renew them on the outside.
Recognize that the environment has an impact on our interior.
56. Of what men call virtue, justice and goodness, one half is envy, and the other is not charity.
Machado once again expounding in this phrase hypocrisy and falsehood in human beings
57. In the psychological analysis of great betrayals you will always find the stupidity of Judas Iscariot
The lack of judgment to make decisions that lead to betrayal.
58. Light of the soul, divine light, lighthouse, torch, star, sun… A groping man walks; he carries a lantern on his back
This phrase talks about the weight of knowledge.
59. Those who are always back from everything are those who have never gone anywhere
Undertake a path towards contact with various situations that only when you return from them, you take with you the experience of what happened.
60. Virtue is the joy that soothes the heaviest heart and unwrinkles the cato’s brow.
Once again, physical well-being is related to emotional well-being.
61. In case of life or death you should be with your closest neighbor
About the importance of emotional ties and how they nourish us.
62. I talk with the man who always goes with me. He who speaks to himself hopes to speak with God one day
Machado manages to describe part of his personality in this phrase.
63. The richest area of our souls, certainly the most extensive, is the one that is usually closed to knowledge due to our self-love.
Open ourselves to the unknown, leaving behind fears, prejudices and selfishness.
64. Cinema… that invention of the devil
For Machado, cinema was a tool of mind control by the dictatorial government
65. Spanish boy who comes into the world, may God protect you, one of the two Spains must freeze your heart
This phrase reflects the pessimistic atmosphere and hopelessness in the face of polarization problems in Spain.
66. I have seen fierce claws in the polished hands; I know melodic rooks and lyrical pigs… The most scoundrel puts his hand on his heart, and the thickest brute is loaded with reason.
The human being when he contrasts his polarities.
67. Everything passes and everything remains, but our thing is to pass, to pass making paths, paths on the sea
Machado exposes the passage of time and the traces left by each experience.
68. He is the best of the good who knows that in this life everything is a matter of measure: a little more, a little less…
Give him the appropriate energy for each situation as required.
69. The good is the one who keeps, like a roadside inn, water for the thirsty, wine for the drunk.
An invitation to wait, because for everything there is the right time.
70. When we saw each other for the first time, we only remembered each other. Although it may seem absurd to you, I have cried when I became aware of my love for you, for not having loved you all my life.
In this phrase, Machado shows us the contradictions of love.
71. In Spain the best is the people. It has always been the same
Machado held the Spanish people in great esteem, a people undoubtedly mistreated for centuries.
72. By walking the path is made, and when you look back you see the path that will never be trodden again
“Walker there is no path” is undoubtedly one of the most famous poets of this great genius of Spanish letters.
73. In difficult times, the gentlemen invoke the country and sell it; The people do not even name her, but they buy her with her blood and save her.
One of his most remembered verses, whose message is still fully valid today.
74. There is already a Spaniard who wants to live and living begins, between a Spain that dies and another Spain that yawns
In many of his poems we find political proclamations and demands.
75. They killed Federico when the light appeared. the group of executioners did not watch his face
Fragment of the poem that Machado dedicated to Federico García Lorca after his murder.
76. That inferior Spain that prays and yawns, old and gambler, straggler and sad; that inferior Spain that prays and attacks, when she deigns to use her head
In many of his poems he expressed his vision of Spain and denounced the injustices that existed in his country.
77. These blue days and this childhood sun
This was the last verse that Machado wrote, a sample of the importance of his childhood throughout his work.
78. All cities have their charm; Granada yours and that of all the others
A beautiful dedication to Granada, one of his favorite cities.
79. The Spain of brass band and tambourine, closed and sacristy, devoted to Frascuelo and María, with a mocking spirit and a quiet soul, must have its marble and its day, its infallible morning and its poet
One of his most memorable descriptions of the archaic Spain that ruled in his time.
80. My childhood is memories of a patio in Seville and a clear orchard where the lemon tree matures
Much of the content of his poems is autobiographical.
81. Walker there is no path, but trails in the sea
The roads, the natural landscapes, the sky and the sea; They were all natural actors who starred in many of his poets.
82. Am I classic or romantic? I don’t know. I would like to leave my verse as the captain leaves his sword
Machado was a great connoisseur of all genres and registers of the history of literature and poetry.
83. The death of my wife left my spirit torn. My wife was an angelic creature cruelly cut down by death
Thanks to his letters, we can also learn about all the pain and suffering that the poet suffered throughout his life.
84. Lord, you already took from me what I wanted most. Hear again, my God, my heart cry out
The death of his wife was one of the events that marked his life most intensely.
85. There are drops of Jacobin blood in my veins, but my verse springs from a serene spring
Mañana never had any impediment in expressing his political positions, something that ended up costing him exile.
86. With the April rains and the May sun, some green leaves have grown
Nature is a very recurring actor in Machado’s poetry.
87. The youngest fairy took me in her arms to the joyful party that was burning in the square
Some of his fantastic images are truly evocative.
88. There is something immortal in us that would like to die with what dies
Death is another of the themes that we can find most frequently in Machado’s poetry.
89. My heart also hopes, towards light and towards life, another miracle of spring
Fragment of the poem “To a dry elm”, dedicated to his recently deceased wife Leonor.
90. Hope says: one day you will see it, if you wait
The death of his wife inspired him to write truly moving poems.
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