Quotes from Isabel Allende

I stopped examining myself in the mirror to compare myself to the perfect beauties of movies and magazines; I decided I was beautiful-- for the simple reason that I wanted to be. And then never gave the matter a second thought. -Eva Luna

Exert some independence; you're not a little girl. You can't let anyone else decide things for you. You have to take care of yourself in this world, she said. I've never forgotten those words.

Literary characters, like my grandmother's apparitions, are fragile beings, easily frightened; they must be treated with care so they will feel comfortable in my pages

January 8 has been a lucky day for me. I have started all my books on that day, and all of them have been well received by the readers. I write eight to ten hours a day until I have a first draft, then I can relax a little. I am very disciplined. I write in silence and solitude. I light a candle to call inspiration and the muses, and I surround myself with pictures of the people I love, dead and alive.

Tal ves temía que ese grandioso amor, que había resistido tantas pruebas, no pudiera sobrevivir a la más terrible de todas: la convivencia.

Just as when we come into the world, when we die we are afraid of unknown things. But the fear is something from within us that has nothing to do with reality

Vamos a recorrer este camino juntos, paso a paso, día a día, con la mejor intención. Eso es lo único que podemos prometernos mutuamente.

Sospecho que todo lo ocurrido no es fortuito, sino que corresponde a un destino dibujado antes de mi nacimiento y Esteban García es parte de ese dibujo. Es un trazo tosco y torcido, pero ninguna pincelada es inútil.

Los budistas dicen que la vida es un río, que navegamos en una balsa hacia el destino final. El río tiene su corriente, velocidad, escollos, remolinos y otros obstáculos que no podemos controlar, pero contamos con un remo para dirigir la embarcación sobre el agua. De nuestra destreza depende la calidad del viaje.

that in itself age doesn't make anyone better or wiser, but only accentuates what they have always been.

La mente es mucho mas interesante que el cuerpo.

A novel is achieved with hard work, the short story with inspiration.

I strike the ground with the soles of my feet and life rises up my legs, spreads up my skeleton, takes possession of me, drives away distress and sweetens my memory. The world trembles.

But I don't want more things than I need, either.

Nothing changes; we humans repeat the same sins over and over, eternally.

Nostalgia is my vice. Nostalgia is a melancholy, and slightly saccharine, sentiment, like tenderness

When talking about human rights, in truth we're referring to men's rights. If a man is beaten and deprived of his freedom, it's called torture. When a woman endures the same, it's called domestic violence and is still considered a private matter in most of the world.

What can we do with this happiness that appears for no obvious reason, the joy that needs no cause to exist?

The most savory grape, the one that produces the wines with best texture and aroma, the sweetest and most generous, doesn't grow in rich soil but in stony land; the plant, with a mother's obstinacy, overcomes obstacles to thrust its roots deep into the ground and take advantage of every drop of water. That, my grandmother explained to me, is how flavors are concentrated in the grape.

Heroism is a badly remunerated occupation, and often it leads to an early end, which is why it appeals to fanatics or persons with an unhealthy fascination with death.

y quien diga que todo fuego se apaga solo tarde o temprano, se equivoca: hay pasiones que son incendios hasta que las ahoga el destino de un zarpazo y aun así quedan brasas calientes listas para arder apenas se les da oxígeno.

My father says that fear is good; it's the body's alarm system, it warns us of danger. But sometimes danger can't be avoided, and then you have to forget about being afraid.

This is the kind of detail that is forbidden in literature; in a book, no one would dare combine a full moon with Frank Sinatra. The problem with fiction is that it must seem credible, while reality seldom is.

write with honesty and don't worry about the feelings of others, because no matter what you say, they'll hate you anyway.