Paulo Lins

"These are two different worlds that have no contact with each other…The elite is ignorant of the favela because it doesnt want to see, and the favela doesnt know the rest of Brazil because it is deprived of the means and the opportunity."

"The world of the favela today is much more cruel than when I was growing up there or even as I show it in my book…If I were to write about the way things are today, I would start the book with a pile of rubber tires, gasoline and someone being burned alive."

"Brazil is a racist country and a racist society…But the funny thing is that nobody will admit to being a racist, and thats the problem. Blacks in Brazil are always in an inferior, subaltern position, but you cant find a white person who is a racist."