Quotes from Elena Ferrante

In the most absolute tranquility or in the midst of tumultuous events, in safety or danger, in innocence or corruption, we are a crowd of others. And this crowd is certainly a blessing for literature.

Where is it written that lives should have a meaning? So she began to disparage all that struggle of mine to write. She said mockingly: Is the meaning that line of black markings that look like insect shit?

I still remember him fondly, there in the doorway. He was absolutely the first person to show me how comfortable it is to arrive in a strange, potentially hostile environment, and discover that you have been preceded by your reputation, that you don't have to do anything to be accepted, that your name is known, that everyone knows about you, and it's the others, the strangers, who must strive to win your favor, and not you theirs.

mi immaginai che non fosse morta insoddisfatta e sospirai di soddisfazione inattesa.

writing with truth is really difficult, perhaps impossible.

Una donna può facilmente uccidere per strada, in mezzo alla folla, lo può fare più facilmente di un uomo. La sua violenza sembra un gioco, una parodia, un uso improprio e un po' ridicolo della determinazione maschile a fare il male.

I was stunned. Fernando looked out, still screaming horrible threats at his daughter. He had thrown her like a thing.

I thought: yes, Lila is right, the beauty of things is a trick, the sky is the throne of fear; I'm alive, now, here, ten steps from the water, and it is not beautiful, it's terrifying; along with this beach, the sea, the swarm of animal forms, I am part of the universal terror.

Mentiras, mentiras, los adultos las prohíben y entretanto cuentan muchas.

Ma verso Stefano, adesso, non manifestava nessuna esplicita aggressività. Certo, la spiegazione era semplice: avevamo visto i nostri padri picchiare le nostre madri fin dall'infanzia. Eravamo cresciute pensando che un estraneo non ci doveva nemmeno sfiorare, ma che il genitore, il fidanzato e il marito potevano prenderci a schiaffi quando volevano, per amore, per educarci, per rieducarci.

When you've finished with a book, it's as if your innermost self has been ransacked, and all you want is to regain distance, return to being whole.

I simply decided once and for all to liberate myself from the anxiety of notoriety and the urge to be a part of that circle of successful people, those who believe they have won who-knows-what

Nu am nostalgia copilariei noastre, e plina de violenta. Ni se intamplau de toate, in casa si in afara ei, in fiecare zi, dar nu-mi amintesc sa fi crezut vreodata ca viata care ni se oferise era foarte urata. Viata era asa fi gata , cresteam cu obligatia de a le-o face dificila celorlalti inainte ca ei sa ne-o faca dificila noua.

Pero sigo pensando que cuando nos atribuimos de modo más o menos arbitrario la tarea de contar no debemos preocuparnos por la serenidad de quien nos lee, sino solo por construir ficciones que ayuden a contemplar la condición humana sin demasiados filtros.

I pay attention to every system of conventions and expectations, above all literary conventions and the expectations they generate in readers. But that law-abiding side of me, sooner or later, has to face my disobedient side. And, in the end, the latter always wins.

Lepota koju je ?erulova imala u glavi odmalena nije našla put, Grekova, i završila se cela na licu, na grudima, bedrima, dupetu, na mestima gde brzo prolazi i kao da nikada nije postojala." Elena Ferante, "Moja genijalna prijateljica

It seemed to me - articulated in words of today - that not only did she know how to put things well but she was developing a gift that I was already familiar with: more effectively than she had as a child, she took the facts and in a natural way charged them with tension; she intensified reality as she reduced it to words, she injected with energy. But I also realized, with pleasure, that, as soon as she began to do this, I felt able to do the same, and I tried and it came easily.

Fiquei-lhe grata pela mensagem imprecisa, que me consolou e deu origem a um entendimento comigo própria.

an old photograph of my sisters and me with our father. The photograph was ruined. Those images of us from so long ago were yellowed, cracked, like the figures of winged demons in certain altarpieces that the faithful have defaced with pointed objects.

Si lo que leo o escribo me gusta, no pego ojo; si me disgusta, caigo en un sueño frágil de decepción y descontento.

Será possível que os pais nunca morram, que fiquem a incubar dentro de cada filho,inevitavelmente?

Porque já estou farta, é sempre a mesma história: dentro daquilo que é pequeno existe algo ainda mais pequeno que quer saltar para fora, e fora daquilo que é grande existe algo ainda maor que o quer manter prisioneiro. Vou cozinhar.

Why was I worried? Because if, in everyday life, I was so embarrassed, so cautious, that I scarcely breathed, the diary produced in me a craving for truth. I thought that when one writes, it makes no sense to be contained, to censor oneself, and as a result I wrote mostly—maybe only—about what I would have preferred to be silent about, resorting among other things to a vocabulary that I would never have dared to use in speaking. This

and my ego gladly avoids leaning out the window.