Quotes from Isabel Allende

Until he was four, Marcel didn't call her "mother" but "señora." The first words he said were "white wine" in Catalan, spoken in his playpen behind the tavern counter.

Hay una maldición china que viene al caso, «le deseo una vida interesante». La bendición correspondiente sería «le deseo una vida banal» —

The wise man desires nothing; he does not judge, he makes no plans, he keeps his mind open and his heart at peace.

Indiana was such a devout disciple of Shakti that she had once considered taking her name until her father, Blake Jackson, managed to convince her that a Hindu goddess's name was not appropriate for a tall, voluptuous blond American with the looks of an inflatable doll.

sin sufrimiento, no hay historia

El temor? No lo conocen. Aprecian primero la valentía y segundo la reciprocidad: tú me das, yo te doy, con justicia. No tienen calabozos, alguaciles ni otras leyes más que las naturales; el castigo también es natural, quien hace algo malo corre el riesgo de que le llegue lo mismo. Así es en la Naturaleza, y no puede ser diferente entre los humanos.

bien calzado, bien recibido.

En la dimensión del cosmos y en el trayecto de la historia somos insignificantes, después de nuestra muerte todo sigue igual, como si jamás hubiéramos existido, en la medida de nuestra precaria humanidad tú, Paula, eres para mí más importante que mi propia vida y que la suma de casi todas las vidas ajenas.

Tal como decía Belalcázar, con autorización del rey la aventura se llamaba conquista, sin ella era asalto a mano armada.

the Nordic concept of janteloven, which meant: Don't think you're so special—remember that the nail that sticks out is the one the hammer hits.

Nada nos divierte tanto a los chilenos como burlarnos de nosotros mismos, aunque jamás soportaríamos que lo hiciese un extranjero.

Detente, sombra de mi amor esquivo, imagen del hechizo que más quiero, bella ilusión por quien alegre muero, dulce ficción por quien penosa vivo.

La felicidad es jabonosa, se escurre entre los dedos, pero a los problemas uno puede aferrarse, tienen asidero, son ásperos, duros.

so much protection prevented her from acquiring any astuteness or intuitive sense. Concealed beneath her flirtatious attitude was an astonishing naïveté.

It was an election year and there was reason for concern over the turn of events. The country was waking up. The wave of discontent that was stirring the people was beginning to strike at the heart of that oligarchic society.

Tengo cincuenta versiones de cómo empezó nuestro amor y todas son ciertas.

The upper middle class and the economic right, who had favored the coup, were euphoric. At first they were a little shocked when they saw the consequences of their action; they had never lived in a dictatorship and did not know what it was like. They thought the loss of democratic freedoms would be temporary and that it was possible to go without individual or collective rights for a while so long as the regime respected the tenets of free enterprise.

He had a presentiment that their fates would be intertwined, but immediately rejected it; he always tried to avoid falling into the traps of intuition.

C'è molta gente buona, Irina, ma è discreta. I cattivi, invece, fanno molto rumore, per questo si notano di più.

All the women I know write, paint, sculpt, or do crafts in their leisure time—which is very scarce. Art has replaced knitting.

Without science, industry, and technology, no progress is possible, and without music and art, there's no soul," he would maintain.

His wife, Leanne, who came to his waist, looked like an undernourished adolescent with the face of a fly, but her fragility was deceptive: she had given birth to six male children and was expecting the seventh. She knew it would be male because God was determined to test her patience.

The Germans are not a race of psychopaths, Alma. They're normal people like you and me, but with fanaticism, power, and impunity, anyone can turn into a monster, like the SS at Auschwitz," he told his sister.

It was then I understood that the days of Colonel García and all those like him are numbered, because they have not been able to destroy the spirit of these women.