Quotes from Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A story is a letter the author writes to himself, to tell himself things that he would be unable to discover otherwise.

a man who invented his life story day after day.

O caminho para o Inferno é feito de boas intenções.

This is a world of shadows, Daniel, and magic is a rare asset. That book taught me that by reading, I could live more intensely. It could give me back the sight I had lost. For that reason alone, a book that didn't matter to anyone changed my life.

People get so used to lying and repeating other people's lies, either because they're afraid or out of self-interest, resentment, or sheer stupidity, and they end up lying even when they think they're telling the truth. It's the failing of our times. The honest, decent person is a species in danger of extinction . . .

I stopped asking my father to take me to see Victor Hugo's pen, and he didn't mention it again. That world seemed to have vanished, but for a long time the image I had of my father, which I still preserve today, was that of a thin man wearing an old suit that was too large for him and a secondhand hat he had bought on Calle Condal for seven pesetas, a man who could not afford to buy his son a wretched pen that was useless but seemed to mean everything to him.

Ya no somos jóvenes — dijo, leyéndome el pensamiento. —¿Cuándo hemos sido jóvenes tú y yo? (We're not young anymore, she said, reading my thought. When were you and I ever young?)

La diferencia entre un crimen y una hazaña suele depender de la perspectiva del observador

Poesía aparte, una religión viene a ser un código moral que se expresa mediante leyendas, mitos o cualquier tipo de artefacto literario a fin de establecer un sistema de creencias, valores y normas con los que regular una cultura o una sociedad.

I was raised among books, making invisible friends in pages that seemed cast from dust and whose smell I carry on my hands to this day. As

It's aquarium light and it's cathedral ceilings offered asylum and a lounge where coffee substitutes were served to those who still try to believe that life went on, and that tomorrow, or perhaps the day after tomorrow, would be just another day.

Mi Barcelona favorita siempre fue la de octubre, cuando le sale el alma a pasear y uno se hace más sabio con sólo beber de la fuente de Canaletas [...]

Todo es un cuento, Martín. Lo que creemos, lo que conocemos, lo que recordamos e incluso lo que soñamos. Todo es un cuento, una narración, una secuencia de sucesos y personajes que comunican un contenido emocional. Un acto de fe es un acto de aceptación, aceptación de una historia que se nos cuenta. Solo aceptamos como verdadero aquello que puede ser narrado.

Pois bem,esta é uma história de livros. - De livros? - De livros malditos, do homem que os escreveu, de uma personagem que se escapou das páginas de um romance para o queimar,de uma traição e de uma amizade perdida.É uma história de amor,de ódio e dos sonhos que vivem na sombra do vento.

When we stand in front of a coffin, we all see only what is good or what we want to see.

Numa ocasião ouvi um cliente habitual comentar na livraria do meu pai que poucas coisas marcam tanto um leitor como o primeiro livro que realmente abre caminho até ao seu coração.

none of us are what we once where

Sabe, Daniel? A veces pienso que Darwin se equivocó y que en realidad el hombre desciende del cerdo, porque en ocho de cada diez homínidos hay un chorizo esperando a ser descubierto —argumentaba

Dvije stvari u životu ne možeš birati, Bene.Prva su neprijatelji. Druga, obitelj. Katkada je teško razabrati razliku me?u njima, ali vrijeme pokaže da si, na kraju krajeva, uvijek mogao pro?i i gore. Život je, sine moj, poput prve partije šaha. Kad po?neš shva?ati kako se kre?u figure, ve? si izgubio.

People tend to become wary of individuals like him because their brilliance reminds them of their own mediocrity. Envy is a blind man who wants to pull out your eyes.

Perhaps if by chance I was seen arranging the shop window in my underpants, some lady in need of strong literary emotions would be drawn in and inspired to part with a bit of hard cash. According to expert opinion, the future of literature depends on women and as God is my witness the female is yet to be born who can resist the allure of this stupendous physique.

Jednog Boži?a Sempere mi je darovao najljepši dar koji sam ikada dobio. Bila je to stara knjiga, temeljito pro?itana i proživljena. 'Velika o?ekivanja Charlesa Dickensa...' pro?itao sam na naslovnici. Znao sam da Sempere poznaje neke pisce koji su ?esto posje?ivali njegov du?an i, sude?i po ljubavi kojom je rukovao tom knjigom, pomislio sam da je možda i taj don Charles jedan od njih. 'Vaš prijatelj?' 'Još od djetinjstva. Od danas i tvoj.

Zavist je religija mediokriteta.

Rije?i i misterij njihova skrivena zna?enja fascinirali su me i doživljavao sam ih kao klju? kojim se može otklju?ati beskrajni svijet na sigurnome od one ku?e, onih ulica i onih tmurnih dana u kojima sam ?ak i ja mogao naslutiti da me ?eka oskudna sre?a.