Quotes from Isabel Allende

I have more freedom when I write fiction, but my memoirs have had a much stronger impact on my readers. Somehow the 'message ' even if I am not even aware that there is one, is conveyed better in this form.

I was born in ancient times, at the end of the world, in a patriarchal Catholic and conservative family. No wonder that by age five I was a raging feminist - although the term had not reached Chile yet, so nobody knew what the heck was wrong with me.

I am an American citizen and it is my home now. I like the U.S.A., which is not a place too many people have liked since Bush. The U.S. has a young population, and everything can change within a year.

Hon såg att hon var ensam i världen och omgiven av kraftfulla fjärran krafter som bara var bundna av det att leva."

The library is inhabited by spirits that come out of the pages at night.

Write what should not be forgotten.

The longer I live, the more uninformed I feel. Only the young have an explanation for everything.

Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don't expect trees to change, you love them as they are.

There is no death, daughter. People die only when we forget them,' my mother explained shortly before she left me. 'If you can remember me, I will be with you always.

For women, the best aphrodisiacs are words. The G-spot is in the ears. He who looks for it below there is wasting his time.

We only have what we give.

You can't find someone who doesn't want to be found.

Fear is inevitable, I have to accept that, but I cannot allow it to paralyze me.

Words are not that important when you recognize intentions.

This is to assuage our conscience, darling" she would explain to Blanca. "But it doesn't help the poor. They don't need charity; they need justice.

you can tell the deepest truths with the lies of fiction

Perhaps we are in this world to search for love, find it and lose it, again and again. With each love, we are born anew, and with each love that ends we collect a new wound. I am covered with proud scars.

You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend, or not.

Writing is a process, a journey into memory and the soul.

Erotica is using a feather; pornograpy is using the whole chicken.

The source of my difficulties has always been the same: an inability to accept what to others seems natural, and an irresistible tendency to voice opinions no one wants to hear . . .

Silence before being born, silence after death: life is nothing but noise between two unfathomable silences.

Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm, just concentrate on the process.

If I write something, I fear it will happen, and if I love too much, I fear I will lose that person; nevertheless, I cannot stop writing or loving...