The Heroic Present Quotes

“One day in the 1930s, as winter approached and Jan was preparing to return to his parents' home, he asked Pulika to pose for a photo. Pulika asked, "Why do you need a photo of me? Are you going to betray me to the police?" Jan replied that he wanted the photo to remember him by. Pulika responded, "If you need a piece of paper to remember me by, forget me.”
― Ian Hancock, The Heroic Present: Life among the Gypsies

“Theirs is a life measured by the richness of these relationships, rather than by accumulated possessions: they treasure life lived for the moment. The Rom have maintained this way of life not in some isolated spot, but superimposed upon a widespread sedentary civilization over hundreds of years.”
― Ian Hancock, The Heroic Present: Life among the Gypsies