Quotes from Isabel Allende

Comprobaréis, señora, que los conquistadores carecen de vergüenza: llegan como mendigos, se comportan como ladrones y se creen señores.

He said that knowledge was of little use without wisdom, and that there was no wisdom without spirituality, and that true spirituality always included service to others. As

More than by upper-class señoritas, with their long legs and blond manes, I've been impressed by the women of the people: mature, strong, hard-working, earthy.

at least as old as synthetic penicillin—you

Tampoco entendían que los extranjeros plantaran una bandera en el suelo, marcaran líneas imaginarias, lo declararan de su propiedad y se ofendieran si alguien entraba persiguiendo a un venado. La idea de poseer la tierra les resultaba tan inverosímil como la de repartirse el mar.

Supongo que de ese sentimiento de soledad nacen las preguntas que impulsan a escribir

Non parlarmi di domani e di ieri, vivo solamente per questo istante dell'oggi in cui torno a inabissarmi nella notte infinita dei tuoi occhi scuri.

My old age is a precious gift. My brain still works. I like my brain. I feel lighter. I am free of self-doubt, irrational desires, useless complexes, and other deadly sins that are not worth the trouble. I am letting go…letting go. I should have started earlier.

La riqueza envilece el alma, complica la existencia y engendra infelicidad, sostenía.

Compared to Europe, Chile was a happily backward and distant paradise. It was true that at this moment it had a center-left government: the president was from the Radical Party and a freemason. He was detested by the Right, and his name was never mentioned by the "best families," but he wasn't going to last long. The Left, with its coarse realism and vulgarity, had no future; the owners of Chile would make sure of that

one is never too old to get younger.

Ella se miro en los mil pedazos rotos del espejo. Su piel, iluminada por las velas, tenfa el color irreal de las figuras de cera. Miguel comenzo a acariciarla y ella vio transformarse su rostro en el caleidoscopio del espejo y acepto al fin que era la mas bella de todo el universe porque pudo verse con los ojos que la miraba Miguel.

Inside, I feel good. I feel charming, seductive, sexy. Nobody else sees that.

Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.

Fascists had always been there, beneath the surface, just waiting to emerge. It was the triumph of the arrogant Right, the defeat of the people who believed in that utopian revolution.

Clara lived in a universe of her own invention, protected from life's inclement weather, where the prosaic truth of material objects mingled with the tumultuous reality of dreams and the laws of physics and logic did not always apply.

No interesa lo que me pasó, si no las cicatricen que me marcan y distinguen

Si hubieras tenido el pelo tan negro como lo tienes ahora, los patrones habrian tirado la caja en la basura.

Scrivo, lei ha scritto, che la memoria è fragile e il corso di una vita è molto breve e tutto avviene così in fretta, che non riusciamo a vedere il rapporto tra gli eventi, non possiamo misurare le conseguenze delle azioni, crediamo nella finzione del tempo, nel presente, nel passato, nel futuro, ma può anche darsi che tutto succeda simultaneamente...

El general Augusto Pinochet encabezó una Junta Militar y pronto habría de convertirse en la personificación de la dictadura. La represión fue instantánea, fulminante y a fondo.

Words are free, she tried to say, and she appropriated them; they were all hers.

For years I put up with Julián Bravo's mistreatment without calling it domestic violence, making excuses: It was an accident; he went too far because he'd had too much to drink; I provoked him; he had problems and he took them out on me, it won't happen again, he promised, he apologized. I

Estábamos tan próximos que no podíamos vernos, ambos absortos en ese rito urgente, envueltos en el calor y el olor que hacíamos juntos. Me

Em toda uma vida de convivência com a miséria e a dor, não se lhe tinha endurecido a alma, mas, pelo contrário, era cada vez mais vulnerável à piedade.