"New York is something awful, something monstrous. I like to walk the streets, lost, but I recognize that New York is the world's greatest lie. New York is Senegal with machines"
- Federico Garcia Lorca
About this Quote
This quote by Federico Garcia Lorca speaks to the intricacy of New York City. He explains it as "something awful, something monstrous," yet he still enjoys strolling its streets. He acknowledges that New York is a lie, but a lie that is higher than any other on the planet. He compares it to Senegal, a nation in West Africa, however with the addition of devices. This comparison talks to the idea that New York is a location of terrific contrast, where the old and the brand-new, the natural and the synthetic, the traditional and the modern-day, all exist side by side. It is a place of great beauty and excellent ugliness, of terrific pledge and excellent misery. It is a location of great intricacy, and Lorca's quote captures this intricacy in a few simple words.
"The law condemns and punishes only actions within certain definite and narrow limits; it thereby justifies, in a way, all similar actions that lie outside those limits"
