Quotes from Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Men? Who knows. Nature is a mother, though a cruel one, and she leaves them silly at birth. But some of them aren't that bad.

Összetörtem ugyan néhány szívet, de sosem rossz szándékkal - ráadásul akkoriba azt hittem, hogy az enyémet soha senki nem törheti össze.

El matrimonio y la familia no son más que los que nosotros hacemos de ellos. Sin eso, no son más que un pesebre de hipocresías

Ne legyen már pr?d, magunk között vagyunk, és tudjuk, hogy a férfiember a hiányzó láncszem a cápa és a disznó közt.

We don't choose who we love, Fernandito. Perhaps it's just that I don't know how to love anyone, and I don't know how to let anyone love me.

Majdnem kétszer olyan idÅ's volt, mint én, de nekem néha úgy t?nt, már vagy száz életet is leélt, mielÅ'tt találkoztunk - ám még akkor is, mikor kerülte a társaságomat, vagy valami butaságon civakodtunk, olyan közel éreztem magamhoz, hogy akaratom ellenére ráébredtem: megtalálja a csak a foltját, ahogy néha viccelÅ'dött is vele.

This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every volume, every book you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down it's pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.

It was a well-known fact that the richness of buttery foods led to moral ruin and confusion of the intellect.

Todo cuanto el sombrerero destilaba de afabilidad y entusiasmo, don Ricardo exhalaba en crueldad y fortaleza. Su sonrisa canina dejaba claro que era capaz de leer sus pensamientos y sus deseos y que se reía de ellos. Sophie sintió por él ese anémico desprecio que despiertan las cosas que más deseamos sin saberlo

No more doing things for nothing, Fernandito. Welcome to capitalism.' 'Don't they say that's really bad?' 'Worse. And you're going to love it.

In life, nothing worthwhile is easy

in good time you'll see that sometimes what matters isn't what one gives but what one gives up.

Una leggenda é una menzogna ideata per spiegare una verità universale. I luoghi in cui la menzogna e l'illusione avvelenano la terra sono particolarmente fertili per la sua coltura.

Nuria Monfort era una mujer más que atractiva, de rasgos tallados para figurines de moda y retratos de estudio, a la que la juventud parecía estar escapándosele por la mirada.

dos fugitivos cabalgando a lomos de un libro, dispuestos a escaparse a través de mundos de ficción y sueños de segunda mano.

L'insieme aveva un'aria un pò melodrammatica e sembrava rubato dalla scrivania di qualche romanziere russo, di quelli che si dissanguano con migliaia di pagine.

Die Zeit verfliegt desto schneller, je leerer sie ist. Ein bedeutungsloses Leben saust vorbei wie ein Zug, der am eigenen Bahnhof nicht hält.

Everything can be forgiven, save telling the truth

Ho sempre invidiato la capacità di dimenticare che possiedono alcune persone per le quali il passato è come un cambio di stagione, o come un paio di scarpe vecchie che basta condannare in fondo a un armadio perché siano incapaci di ripercorrere i passi perduti. Io ho avuto la disgrazia di ricordare tutto e che tutto, a sua volta, ricordasse me.

Un uomo deve avere qualche vizio, se possibile di classe, altrimenti quando arriva alla vecchiaia non ha nulla da cui redimersi.

No te pongas años de más, que ya te los pondrá la vida.

because he had been born to be forgotten.

Siempre creí que íbamos a ser inseparables, per la vida debe de saber algo que nosotros no sabemos. No he vuelto a tener amigos como aquellos, y no creo que los vuelva a tener

The trouble is that man, going back to Freud - and excuse the metaphor - heats up like a light bulb: red hot in the twinkling of an eye and cold again in a flash. The female, on the other hand - and this is pure science - heats up like an iron, slowly, over a low heat, like a tasty stew. But then, once she has heated up, there's no stopping her. Like the steel furnaces in Vizcaya! I weighed up Fermin's thermodynamic theories.