Quotes from Carlos Ruiz Zafon

root of my literary ambitions, apart from the marvelous simplicity with which one sees things at the age of five, lay in a prodigious piece of craftsmanship and precision that was exhibited in a fountain-pen shop on Calle Anselmo Clavé

Julián Carax's book was waiting for me, as it always did, its spine just visible at the end of a shelf. I took it in my hands and pressed it against my chest

There are worse prisons than words, Daniel.

I don't trust people who say they have a lot of friends. It's a sure sign that they don't really know anyone.

Es como la marea, ¿sabe usted?—decía, ido—. La barbarie, digo. Se va y uno se cree a salvo, pero siempre vuelve, siempre vuelve... y nos ahoga.

Gustavo Barceló was an old colleague of my father's who now owned a cavernous establishment on Calle Fernando with a commanding position in the city's secondhand-book trade.

What we'd really need is someone very special, half detective, half poet, someone who won't charge much or be afraid to tackle the impossible." "I think I have the right candidate," I said. I found Fermín Romero de Torres in his usual lodgings below the arches of Calle Fernando.

Sind Sie vom Himmel?', fragte sie. 'Machen Sie sich keine Illusionen. Ich bin aus Matadepera.

el placer de leer, de explorar puertas que se te abren en el alma, de abandoranse a la imaginación, a la belleza y al misterio de la ficción y del lenguaje.

Man muss einen sehr starken Glauben haben, um Dicher zu sein.

Pocas cosas marcan tanto a un lector como el primer libro que realmente abre camino hasta su corazón

My brother knows us all inside out, only he never says anything. But if he ever decides to open his mouth, the whole world will collapse.

Un acto de fe es un acto de aceptación, aceptación de una historia que se nos cuenta. Sólo aceptamos como verdadero aquello que puede ser narrado.

The only use for military service is that it reveals the number of morons in the population," he would remark. "And that can be discovered in the first two weeks; there's no need for two years. Army, Marriage, the Church, and Banking: the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Julián non amava parlare di sé o dei suoi libri. Non mi sembrò che fosse felice a Parigi; del resto, mi diede l'impressione di essere una di quelle persone che non possono essere felici da nessuna parte.

Una de las trampas de la infancia es que no hace falta comprender algo para sentirlo. Para cuando la razón es capaz de entender lo sucedido, las heridas en el corazón ya son demasiado profundas. Aquella

Ustedes, las mujeres, escuchan más al corazón y menos a la tontería -concluyó el sombrerero con tristeza-. Por eso viven más.

CLARA'S NAKED BODY LAY STRETCHED OUT ON WHITE SHEETS that shone like washed silk. Maestro Neri's hands slid over her lips, her neck, and her breasts.

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

Neri grabbed me by my hair and rummaged in my pockets until he found the keys.

a religion is really a moral code that is expressed through legends, myths or any type of literary device in order to establish a system of beliefs, values and rules with which to regulate a culture or a society.

Aber wer schützt uns vor uns selbst?

Probably because a stranger sees us the way we are, not as they wish us to be.

La soledad que desprendía aquella mujer quemaba