The 72 best quotes by Chavela Vargas

We compile the famous quotes of this Costa Rican ranchera singer based in Mexico.

Isabel Vargas, better known as Chavela Vargas (Costa Rica, 1919 - Mexico, 2012), was an illustrious Mexican singer who popularized and brought popular ranchera music to its zenith.

Her personal style shocked the society of that time: she dressed like a man, was armed with a gun and openly acknowledged being homosexual in 2000, in a televised interview.

Chavela Vargas's famous phrases.

The songs composed by José Alfredo Jiménez were masterfully interpreted by the great Chavela Vargas.. Despite her multiple problems with alcohol and other drugs, the ranchera singer's legacy remains undisturbed, years after her passing.

In today's article let's get to know the most outstanding quotes by Chavela Vargasas well as some famous quotes that all Mexicans remember with nostalgia.

1. I knew it all along. There is no one who can stand the freedom of others; no one likes to live with a free person. If you are free, that's the price you have to pay: loneliness.

Unfortunately, few are capable of understanding love with such a degree of freedom and autonomy.

2. Love is one step. Goodbye is another... and both must be firm, nothing is forever in life.

A phrase of resignation from the great ranchera singer.

3. When I sing, those who listen to me feel. And they cry because they realize that they are still capable of feeling. In spite of the evils of the world.

Human sensitivity is still there in spite of all of life's onslaughts.

4. The planet should be filled with violins and guitars instead of so much shrapnel.

A phrase for peace.

5. Only from drunkard to drunkard do we understand each other.

A famous quote from a well-known alcoholic.

6. I will meet death face to face. I am not afraid of him; I am not afraid of him; I have respect for him. Madam, here I am, whenever you want me...

Accepting the final destiny, with fortitude.

7. Frida spread tenderness like flowers, yes, like flowers. A great tenderness, an infinite tenderness.

Remembering the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

8. I will die on a Monday, the most boring day but I don't want crosses or cries. Let Vargas rest.

Eternal rest, longed for by the interpreter.

9. Once there was a knock at the door and I told Frida it was a hairy old man. It was Leon Trotsky. I didn't know who it was. It was that gentleman, nothing more, nothing less.

A chance encounter with one of the top leaders and leaders of Soviet communism.

10. If diplomats sang, there would be no wars.

Singing calms the wild beasts.

11. To believe, you have to feel the need to believe.

One of those phrases of Chavela Vargas that has a meaning applicable to everyday life.

12. We must take care of the world, protect love, peace, justice.

About her pacifist spirit.

13. When I enter the stage I feel afraid. But I find something or something finds me. Before the end of the first song I'm already somewhere else. On the side of my audience.

On their feelings just before entering the stage.

14. I have done everything knowingly and I don't regret anything. Neither of the good, nor of the bad, nor of the happy moments, nor of the sadness... In the end, my soul is full of peace and tranquility.

His conscience made that even his darkest stages were lived intensely.

15. Love without measure, without limit, without complex, without complex, without permission, without courage, without advice, without doubt, without price, without cure, without anything. Don't be afraid to love, you will shed tears with love or without it.

One of Chavela Vargas' most famous quotes.

16. Love does not exist, it is an invention of drunken nights.

Beer glasses can alter our perception.

17. Music has no borders, but it does have a common end: love and rebellion.

Constantly in tune with these two intense and irrational feelings.

18. Women with a past and men with a future are the most interesting people.

Ideal for a long conversation.

19. What hurts is not to be homosexual, but to have it thrown in your face as if it were a plague.

About his statement on television. He could not stand the stigma associated with his sexual condition.

20. I am not a politician, nor a militant of anything. Singing is my instrument. And I say it by singing.

Her only language was musical language.

21. It is necessary to know how to feel, to know how to fight to earn the respect of others and to respect those others.

An ethical maxim to apply to our lives.

22. In a restaurant, a beautiful lady came up to me and whispered: "Chavela, when are we going to bed? How daring! I love it.

A rather risqué proposition.

23. I want it to be understood someday that my message is no longer from the throat, it is no longer from a record, it is no longer from a concert: it is the immense voice of the human individual that is silent, that has no name, that cannot be called in any way. That is what I feel, that is what will not let me die until people know that my singing is not singing, that it is something beyond pain, beyond anguish, beyond knowledge, beyond everything, beyond art itself.

The voice of the silenced, according to Chavela Vargas.

24. How beautiful Spain is, what freedom. One feels Spain. You feel the strength of the female of Europe, which is Spain, just as you feel the strength of the male of America, which is Mexico. I love Spain.

A deep praise for this Iberian land.

25. My relationship with music comes from nature, not from the academy. If I had studied to be a singer, perhaps I would have been a great musician, but never Chavela Vargas.

Self-learning made the figure of Chavela great.

26. I have drunk forty-five thousand liters of tequila and I assure you that I can still donate my liver.

A bomb-proof body.

27. Whatever you want from me I will give you, but I will never give you anything back. That's how I work.

An attitude applied in personal relationships.

28. One always returns to the old places where one loved life.

Revisiting these special places can be an intense experience.

29. I am one of those women who have fun even at her own wake.

Funny way of expressing his jovial character.

30. Goodbye? You never say Goodbye, you say I love you.

A more meaningful way to end a conversation or relationship.

31. People look at me like the crazy old woman I am.

About the way in which others judge her for her manner and aesthetics.

32. A life well lived is the best thing to remember.

One's own life story is memorable.

33. I have never slept with a gentleman. Never. See how pure I am, I have nothing to be ashamed of? My gods made me that way.

A consequence of their sexual orientation.

34. I have had to fight to be me and to be respected, and to carry that stigma, for me, is a source of pride. To carry the name lesbian. I don't show it off, I don't proclaim it, but I don't deny it.

The stigma can be an important burden, but it does not eliminate one's individuality.

35. Life looks better at 93... check it out.

Age brings another way of perceiving and analyzing things.

36. To love as if there were no tomorrow.

Another of those life mottos that keep their strength in their simplicity.

37. I am one of those people who prefer to love than to be loved. But one has to be thankful for being loved.

About her position on love.

38. To enjoy: love. To suffer: love. To live: love. To die: love. To laugh: love. To cry: love... and for everything else: love.

Everything is contained in this very human component.

39. Distances separate cities, cities destroy customs.

About the advance of the globalized world.

40. Loneliness does not weaken me, it strengthens me, it fills me with something strange that nourishes me, it speaks to me at night, it tells me stories, stories that are true, that are truths.

Imagination can be a powerful remedy against the negative effects of loneliness.

41. The years have taught me nothing, I always fall into the same mistakes again, to toast with strangers and cry over the same pains.

The simple fact of exposing ourselves to new experiences does not guarantee that we will learn.

42. The soul is worth more than millions. That's the way we are. And I love being like that and that's how I'm going to die, free!

Showing his mentality in rejection of materialism.

43. I leave you my freedom as an inheritance.

A reference about how to live without unnecessary ties.

44. I am going to shout with all my soul so that the world knows that I am alive. Alive from so much living. Alive from loving so much.

Vital attitude was a characteristic of her.

45. Those simple things that remain aching in the heart.

There are small facts capable of striking a hard blow in us.

46. Freedom is not only solitude, it is also poverty. To be free is to be poor. I would not want, for anything in the world, to be in the shoes of that Mexican who they say is one of the richest or the richest in the world. Surely he is not a free being.

That kind of power also binds.

47. Give away your kisses, sell your caresses, rent your soul... after me, do whatever you want.

About falling out of love and breaking up.

48. When Mexicans believed in their gods, it was different. The Indians are still a strong people. In spite of everything, their strength continues to sustain the world.

A resilience that defines them as a people.

49. Mexico has magic. And I looked for magic and I found it.

Another sign of the appreciation this singer had for the country.

50. I love to be entertained when I am alive. When I am dead, let them leave me in peace.

For her, these tokens of appreciation should be given when there are those who can enjoy them.

51. Mexico is my land. I was not born here but I love it. It is the most beautiful country in the world.

Praises to Mexico were a constant in this singer's life.

52. The weight that falls on the skin after a concert is too much. An enormous weight that covers the soul. It is the weight of loneliness.

There is a contrast between fame and meaningful personal relationships.

53. Lovers of the world: sometimes it is more beautiful to remember than to live.

Memories are in themselves a set of experiences with much value.

54. Mexico is asleep, but it is a giant. A sleeping giant. I don't even want to think about what will happen when it wakes up...when the giant wakes up, the hypocrisy, the farce, everything that makes Mexico a poor country, will be gone.

About the potential of the Mexican country.

55. I have had to face society, the Church, which says that homosexuals are cursed... It is absurd. How are you going to judge a being who was born that way. I didn't study to be a lesbian. I wasn't taught to be like that. I was born that way. Since I opened my eyes to the world.

In defense of the rights of those who have a non-normative sexual orientation.

56. No one dies of love, neither for lack nor for excess.

It may bring very intense emotions, but it does not stop our hearts.

57. From the moment I got on the plane and saw the Mexican flag I was very excited. I was looking for Mexico, I believed in Mexico without knowing it.

One of those phrases of Chavela Vargas full of patriotism.

58. Whatever you want from me I give it to you. But I don't return your kisses.

About the way in which love relationships transform us.

59. I am like the green chile llorona: spicy but tasty.

A comparison as simple as clear.

60. Neither Isabel nor Chabelita, Chavela!

Her personal brand.

61. If I have already given you life, what more do you want? You want more!

Life itself is not enough to live a full existence.

62. He taught me many things and I learned a lot, and without bragging about anything; I grabbed the sky with my hands, with every word, every morning!

There are people who leave a mark on us as mentors and sources of knowledge and inspiration.

63. Yesterday I cried to see you, Llorona, and today I cried because I saw you.

A paradoxical situation.

64. One day I went for a walk and fell. I couldn't get up. It's life charging you its salary. It is life charging you for what it gave you or for what is yet to come. Life is ahead of you. It's life telling you I'm going to charge you for this. Well, it doesn't tell you but therein lies the combination of life and soul.

Nothing should be taken for granted.

65. And when you are at your happiest, out of nowhere, you will shed a tear at the memory of me.

Painful memories can make us experience the present in a different way.

66. You were my only desire on those drunken nights.

One of Chavela Vargas' phrases that refer to passion, that very human facet.

67. I don't deserve anything more than what I have. That's why they call me a millionaire, because I have what I want without having money, and that's wonderful.

An appraisal of their living conditions, beyond the economic.

68. Mexico has a place for foreigners, it has a strange song. To say Mexico is to say sweet, sweet Mexico. The word Mexico, not Argentina, not Brazil. Mexico is the divine word, the magic word, the wise word. It is its sound and it is the color that appears in the brain when we say it; it is its aroma. Mexico.

Expressing his love for this country.

69. Let's not condemn to shipwreck what we lived for our yesterday, for our love I ask you, wait, I still have in my hands springs to fill you with caresses all new, that would die in my hands if you left.

What has happened does not cease to be a reality just because it is not in the present.

70. There are times when I think that I am dead... when I wake up I hear myself speak and I think that, in reality, I am dead. But I come back, I always come back to life.

A phenomenon related to the way reality is experienced.

71. Love is simple and simple things are devoured by time.

An interesting aphorism about love.

72. I didn't give a damn about what they said.... The males didn't like it when I showed up to sing in men's pants. But I didn't care. Unless they were too smart. Then I would do the Chavela Vargas thing.

Challenging gender roles may cause negative reactions in some, but that doesn't mean you should give in to these pressures.