Augusto Roa Bastos Quotes
In all nations an exceptional man exists that compensates the deficiencies of the remainder. In those moments, when humanity is found collectively in a state of decadence, there always remain those exceptional beings as point of reference.
Roa Bastos, Augusto. I, the Supreme. Translated by Helen Lane, Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.
The phrase “city upon a hill” was first used by John Winthrop in 1630 which is probably taken from Matt. 5:14-16 “a city that is set on a hill.” See related quote. It was then used in a speech by President Kennedy with attribution to Winthrop. President Reagan used it without the attribution and embellished it by adding the adjective “shining” which many people thought was in the original Puritan statement. The Reagan video and audio clip has been so viewed so many times that people think the phrase originated with Reagan.
The sermon was actually given in England just before their embarkation for America. The “city upon a hill” image was later used by Presidents Kennedy and Regan {624222}.
The mayor was a convicted user of cocaine while he served as mayor and was attacked for being a poor role model.
Augusto Roa Bastos was a Paraguayan novelist and short story writer. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best known for his complex novel Yo el Supremo (I, the Supreme) and for winning the Premio Miguel de Cervantes in 1989, Spanish literature's most prestigious prize. Yo el Supremo explores the dictations and inner thoughts of José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, the eccentric dictator of Paraguay who ruled with an iron fist, from 1814 until his death in 1840.
