Quotes from Elena Ferrante

that to trust in a God, a Jesus, the Holy Spirit—this last a completely superfluous entity, it was there only to make up a trinity, notoriously nobler than the mere binomial father-son—was the same thing as collecting trading cards while the city burns in the fires of hell.

Deseo que de esta oscuridad broten manadas de perros rabiosos, víboras, escorpiones, enormes serpientes marinas. Deseo que mientras estoy aquí sentada, a la orilla del mar, de la noche lleguen asesinos que desgarren mi cuerpo. Sí, sí, que se me castigue por mi inutilidad, que me ocurra lo peor, algo tan devastador que me impida enfrentarme a esta noche, a mañana, a las horas y a los días que vendrán para confirmarme mi constitución inadecuada.

el punto de contacto entre su mundo, cada vez más pequeño, y el mío, cada ve más grande.

I seemed tranquil but I was extremely agitated, my face hurt with the effort of smiling.

Cuánto me agotaba nuestra relación, y cuántas insidias se escondían en cada gesto, en cada frase que pronunciaba yo, que pronunciaba él.

You're not happy to be getting married?" I ventured. He looked out the window: there was lightning and thunder but still no rain. He said: "I was fine the way I was.

No quiero leer nada más de lo que escribes. -¿Por qué? -Porque me hace daño

The better and truer you feel, the farther away you go.

Lila had remained there, chained in a glaring way to that world, from which she imagined she had taken the best.

Frumusetea pe care Cerullo o avea in minte inca de mica nu s-a manifestat, Greco, si i-a ajuns toata pe fata, in piept, pe coaste si pe cur, locuri de unde trece repede si e ca si cum n-ai avut-o niciodata.

lo que él no soporta es tu indiferencia, no puede aceptar que cuanto menos lo ves, mejor estás...

reason, by a weariness that made everything around

qué tontería había sido quererlo, amarlo, y pese a todo evitarlo siempre.

Yes, yes, resign yourself to what you are, each on his own path.

To be born in that city—I went so far as to write once, thinking not of myself but of Lila's pessimism—is useful for only one thing: to have always known, almost instinctively, what today, with endless fine distinctions, everyone is beginning to claim: that the dream of unlimited progress is in reality a nightmare of savagery and death.

She felt that the years she had dedicated to him had been in vain

Speaking, I wished to eliminate both me and him, in that bed, different from the children of long ago. We had in common only the violence we had witnessed.

Quant à mes professeurs, ils semblaient avoir décidé d'emblée que j'étais une excellente élève par une sorte d'inertie inhérente à l'ensemble de ce système scolaire poussiéreux.

and compare it with mine and feel—I hoped—in the lead. Luckily I sensed that she would never do it and that I would only have stupidly exposed myself. I remained silent, as she did.

Una lunga, costosa preparazione. Un ridurmi a tavola imbandita per l'appetito sessuale del maschio, a vivanda ben cucinata perché gli venga l'acquolina in bocca. E poi l'angoscia di non farcela, di non sembrare bella, di non essere riuscita a celare con destrezza la volgarità della carne con i suoi umori e odori e difformità.

Cand o vedeai, emana o stralucire care parea o palma foarte violenta peste fata saraciei din cartier.

I couldn't resist; we drove to Argentario. I was dazed by love. We spent marvellous days devoted to the winter sea and, as had never happened with either Franco or, even less, Pietro, to the pleasure of eating and drinking, conversation, sex.

Eu nu cheltui o lira daca nu cred ca pot sa scot o suta.

le moindre choix a son histoire, et beaucoup d'événements de notre existence restent tapis dans un coin en attendant le moment de surgir, et ce moment finit par arriver.