Quotes from Carlos Ruiz Zafon

For me those enchanted pages will always be the ones I found among the passageways of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Lo difícil no es ganar dinero sin más. Lo difícil es ganarlo haciendo algo a lo que valga la pena dedicarle la vida

we can have a minute's silence.' 'That won't be necessary.' 'Of course not. It's only necessary when one has nothing valid to say. Silence makes even idiots seem wise for a minute.

One mustn't dream of one's future; one must earn it.

All interpretation or observation of reality is necessarily fiction. In this case, the problem is that man is a moral animal abandoned in an amoral universe and condemned to a finite existence with no other purpose than to perpetuate the natural cycle of the species. It is impossible to survive in a prolonged state of reality, at least for a human being. We spend a good part of our lives dreaming, especially when we're awake. As I said, pure biology.

Conserva tus sueños, nunca sabes cuándo te van a hacer falta

Serénese o va a criar una piedra en el hígado —aconsejó Fermín—. Esto del cortejo es como el tango: absurdo y pura floritura. Pero usted es el hombre y le toca llevar la iniciativa. —¿La iniciativa? ¿Yo? —¿Qué quiere? Algún precio tenía que tener el poder mear de pie.

Las personas estamos dispuestas a creer cualquier cosa antes que la verdad

Some things can only be seen in the shadows," my father said, flashing a mysterious smile probably borrowed from the pages of one of his worn Alexandre Dumas romances. Night watchmen still lingered in the misty streets when we stepped out of the front door. The lamps along the Ramblas sketched an avenue of vapor that faded as the city began to awake. When

Recuérdame, Daniel, aunque sea en un rincón y a escondidas. No me dejes ir.

Faith is an instinctive response to aspects of existence that we cannot explain by any other means - be it the moral void we perceive in the universe, the certainty of death, the mystery of the origin of things, the meaning of our own lives, or the absence of meaning.

Gli stolti parlano, i codardi tacciono, i saggi ascoltano

La vida, esa reina de las putas.

Hay personas que se recuerdan y otras que se sueñan.

He loved her with all his soul, but in his own way, which was the correct way. All he asked God was to show him how the three of them could be happy, preferably also in his own way.

Destiny is usually just around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it yourself.

A la hora de mentir lo que hay que tener en cuenta no es la plausibilidad del embuste, sino la codicia, vanidad y estupidez del destinatario.

All good things must wait. There are yokels out there who think that if they touch a woman's behind and she doesn't complain, they've hooked her. Amateurs. The female heart is a labyrinth of subtleties, too challenging for the uncouth mind of the male racketeer. If you really want to possess a woman, you must think like her, and the first thing to do is to win over her soul. The rest, that sweet, soft wrapping that steals away your senses and your virtue, is a bonus.

Ahora mismo papá va a ir a tu habitación y le va a echar a patadas para que no vuelva nunca más. Nuestro hijo me lanzó una mirada desesperada. ¿Para qué sirve un padre si no es para misiones heroicas de esta envergadura?

La mayoría de nosotros tenemos la dicha o la desgracia de ver cómo la vida se desmorona poco a poco, sin que nos demos casi cuenta.

Nobody must know the truth, because I've learned that in this world truth only hurts, and God loves and helps those who lie.

I'm going to make this woman blissfully happy even if it's the last thing I ever do in this world.

Está usted conmigo? ¿Hasta ese fin del mundo, que quién no nos dice que pueda estar a la vuelta de la esquina?

Uno no sabe quién es de verdad hasta que aprende a odiar.