Quotes from Carlos Ruiz Zafon

When it comes to lying, what one must consider is not the plausibility of the fib but the greed, fear, and stupidity of the receiver. One never lies to people; they lie to themselves. A good liar gives fools what they want to hear and allows them to free themselves from the facts at hand and choose the level of self-delusion that fits their foolishness and moral turpitude. That's the secret. Oldest trick in the world.

The words with which a child's heart is poisoned, through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul.

Don Basilio era un hombre de aspecto feroz y bigotes frondosos que no se andaba con ñoñerías y suscribía la teoría de que un uso liberal de adverbios y la adjetivación excesiva eran cosa de pervertidos y gentes con deficiencias vitamínicas.

Alguien dijo una vez que en el momento en que te paras a pensar si quieres a alguien, ya has dejado de quererle para siempre —dije.

porque nadie pregunta por aquello que prefiere ignorar.

You believe what it's possible to believe, not what you want to believe. Unless you're an idiot, in which case it's the other way around.

I fulfilled all the requirements for Clara Barcelo to send me packing, but I preferred to think that her blindness afforded me a margin for error and that my crime - my complete and pathetic devotion to a woman twice my age, my intelligence, and my height - would remain in the dark.

Le podría decir a usted que es el corazón, pero lo que lo mata es la soledad. Los recuerdos son peores que las balas.

Humans aren't descended from monkeys. They come from parrots.

Wie schön der Herr spricht. Man sieht dass Sie ein Hinterlektueller sind.

But Clara's father believed that nations never see themselves clearly in the mirror, much less when war preys on their minds. He had a good understanding of history and knew that the future could be read much more clearly in the streets, factories, and barracks than in the morning press.

Alicia, welcome back to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

O destino costuma estar ao virar da esquina.Como se fosse um gatuno,uma rameira ou um vendedor de lotaria:as suas três encarnações mais batidas.Mas o que não faz é visitas ao domicílio.É preciso ir atrás dele.

Ci sono epoche e luoghi in cui essere nessuno è più onorevole che essere qualcuno

e por um instante pensei que não havia ali mais fantasmas que os da ausência e da perda,e que aquela luz que me sorria era de empréstimo e só valia enquanto a pudesse segurar com o olhar,segundo a segundo.

Ya sé que el mundo cambia, pero nunca en lo esencial.

In commercial art - and all art that is worthy of the name is commercial sooner or later - stupidity is almost always in the eye of the beholder.

Respirar se le ha acabado, se lo digo yo. Piense que un traje de novia es como una escafandra de buzo: no es el mejor sitio para respirar, lo divertido empieza cuando se lo quitan. El Prisionero del Cielo

those who really love, love in silence, with deeds and not with words.

A televisão, amigo Daniel, é o Anticristo, e digo-lhe que bastarão três ou quatro gerações para que as pessoas não saibam nem dar peidos por sua conta...

Ik dankte de hemel dat er geen getuigen waren van mijn blos, die voldoende zou zijn geweest om een sigaar op een halve meter afstand te doen ontbranden.

The night I met him Mijail told me that, for some reason, life usually grants us what we are not looking for.

A young man is the perfect soldier. He has great potential for aggression and a limited critical capacity - or none at all - with which to analyze it and judge how to channel it.

El tiempo no nos hace más sabios, solo más cobardes.