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“All Romani dialects â€� about 60 in all - contain Armenian words, proof if you will that the Lom Bosha passed through Armenia in the early 11th century, trading spices along the Great Silk Road, that network of ancient trade routes connecting China with the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The Romani traded Armenian carpets, silk, dyes, lapis lazuli and tin, and it’s no surprise that five capitals of Armenia are on The Great Silk Road.”
― Karl Wiggins, Wrong Planet - Searching for your Tribe

“Impossible n'est pas français. Mais il pourrait être roumain.”
― Teodor Burnar, Viata mea

“Romani slaves were in demand because of their skilled crafts and their importance to the economic market. With the growing dependency of landowners, monasteries and the Crown on Romani slaves, the Romanian term Tigan came to be used synonymously with 'slave' and it still has a derogatory connotation in the Romanian language today.”
― Yaron Matras

“The term “Romani,â€� as used in this story, is in some sense an anachronism—in the nineteenth century, Romanies would have been known primarily as “Gypsiesâ€� (°ä¾±²µÃ¡²Ô²â´Ç°ì in Hungary). Due to the negative stereotypes attached to the term “Gypsyâ€� and the fact that it stems from a mistaken idea of their origins (it’s a corruption of “Egyptianâ€�), “Romaâ€� or “Romaniâ€� has been widely adopted as the preferred form of address. I chose to use “Romaniâ€� to acknowledge this preference and to reflect the difference between the way Gábor views his family and friends (and the way Anna comes to) and outsider perspectives. Where “Gypsyâ€� is used, it refers strictly to outsidersâ€� perspectives of Romani life.”
― Rosalyn Eves, Blood Rose Rebellion

“On the rare occasions when Romani Gypsies meet south Asians from India or Pakistan, they are astonished to discover that they can understand many of the words these people use in their language, such as Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. There is thus a connection with eastern Europe - Romania and Hungary - but also with far-away India.”
― Yaron Matras

“So entrenched is our fictional image of Gypsies that we often brush aside real-world experiences as a mirage when they contradict the picture that we have absorbed and internalized.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“But on one occasion he was lost for words. 'If it's all as bad as you describe,' asked an inconspicuous young man at the end of one of the lectures, 'then why did you choose to become a Gypsy?' His image of Gypsies had marked them as a mere lifestyle, a fashion, a brand.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“Their flag has two background colours: green representing the ground below, and blue for the sky above. In its centre it depicted a wheel: this symbolized the image of the Romani people as travellers and, resembling the 24-spoke wheel known as the Ashoka Chatra which features in the centre of the flag of India, it served as a reference to the Roms' historical country of origin.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“What do women who live in houses, wear traditional long skirts, speak Romani to their family members and are offended when somebody calls them 'Gypsies' have in common with women who live in caravans, wear shorts, use only the occasional Romani word and refer to themselves as 'Gypsies?' What does a Romani coppersmith in Bulgaria share with a Romani used-car dealer in Los Angeles? How can a Spanish musician of Gitano background feel represented by a Hungarian Romani member of the European Parliament?”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“I believe that it is not beneficial either to idealize Romani culture or treat it as exotic. Romani culture is not simply Indian or Asian, though some aspects of it clearly reflect its historical origins in India, language being one of the most obvious. Nor is it inherently a culture of poverty or a culture of resistance or defiance against mainstream norms.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“But I do hold the view that we need to rethink and revise our picture of the Romani people and to move away from the literary images and brands, and on to understanding the real everyday lives and aspirations of a real people.”
― Yaron Matras

“The thought of even more permanent separation of children through boarding schools or foster homes is even more troublesome, and Roms in countries such as Norway, Sweden, Hungary and Switzerland are still haunted by the memory of periods in the history of their communities during which the practice of separating Romani children from their families was encouraged by authorities as a means of forcibly integrating the young generations of Roms into mainstream society.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“People are often surprised to hear that Romani is in fact a fully fledged language just like any other, that it has its origins in India, that it is related to Sanskrit, an ancient language associated with Indian scholarship and religion, and that it has been preserved by the Romani populations through oral traditions and in a variety of dialects for many centuries.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“I recall my Romani friend who drives from village to village to offer his services to potential clients and who claims, when asked about his origin, to be Irish or Italian. 'I make a living by denying who I am,' he says.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“A decree prohibiting the separation of Romani families through the sale of slaves was adopted in Wallachia in 1850. The ownership of private slaves finally became illegal in Moldavia in 1855 and in Wallachia in 1856.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“Claims for compensation for physical damage through sterilization and for psychological damage through incarceration were not recognized for this reason. Claims for lost possessions were rejected on the basis of a wholesale prejudice that Gypsies did not own possessions. Claims for compensation for lost income on the basis of a reduction of earning capacity (as a result of physical and psychological damage and years lost due to imprisonment) were rejected on the grounds that Gypsies were unlikely to have sought employment even under more favourable circumstances. Like the German Jews, the Roms had been stripped of their citizenship rights by the Nazi regime's racist legislation.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“There was every proof that the persecution and genocide against Romani minorities had been carried out on the basis of racial ideology. Nevertheless, many Roms encountered difficulties reclaiming their German citizenship. As a result they were also considered to be ineligible for compensation payments, which according to the West German compensation law could be made only to German citizens. By the time their citizenship had been reinstated and compensation claims were filed again, claimants were often informed that the deadline for submitting claims had passed.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“Many Romani activists are in fact of mixed parentage. They are often individuals who grew up within the mainstream culture, ashamed of, or afraid to acknowledge, their Romani family connections. Others are persons of Romani background who acquired an education and spent the early years of their careers capitalizing on their Romani connections by engaging in academic research on Romani culture or providing expertise to public services and institutions on Romani society. They feel a strong commitment to challenging prejudice and to improving the destiny of their people. But many years of their lives have been spent struggling for recognition and acknowledgement among their non-Romani colleagues and peers.”
― Yaron Matras, I Met Lucky People: The Story of the Romani Gypsies

“We leave safe places behind; we choose to live in the tomorrow-land”
― Neil Mach, Moondog and the Reed Leopard

“I take the wild route. I carry a purpose wherever I go...”
― Neil Mach, Moondog and the Reed Leopard