Quotes from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Aquí cambian las personas, teniente, nunca las cosas.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“I know what a man feels close to the woman he loves, but he's affraid to do anything”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“—Con dogmáticos o con inteligentes, el Perú estará siempre jodido —dijo Carlitos—. Este país empezó mal y acabará mal. Como nosotros, Zavalita.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Ninguna otra novela me ha dado tanto trabajo; por eso, si tuviera que salvar del fuego una sola de las que he escrito, salvaría ésta.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“allí. Un gran canchón rodeado de un muro ruin de adobes color caca —el color de Lima, piensa, el color del Perú—, flanqueado por chozas que, a lo lejos, se van mezclando y espesando hasta convertirse en un laberinto de esteras, cañas, tejas, calaminas.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“¿Quería de veras un consejo, piensa, sabía que estabas enamorado de ella y quería saber si te atreverías a decírselo? Qué habría dicho si yo, piensa, qué habría yo si ella. Piensa: ay, Zavalita.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“¿En qué momento se había jodido el Perú?”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“automóviles, edificios desiguales y descoloridos, esqueletos de avisos luminosos flotando en la neblina, el mediodía gris. ¿En qué momento se había jodido el Perú?”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Se había acordado de algo que le dijo Trifulcio esa noche, la víspera de su partida a Lima, cuando caminaban a oscuras: estoy en Chincha y siento que no estoy, reconozco todo y no reconozco nada.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Ya se sentía bastante jodido aquí, niño, allá ese día además de jodido se había sentido viejísimo.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Hasta la lluvia andaba jodida en este país. Piensa:”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

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Popular quotes

“How far we all come. How far we all come away from ourselves. So far, so much between, you can never go home again. You can go home, it's good to go home, but you never really get all the way home again in your life. And what's it all for? All I tried to be, all I ever wanted and went away for, what's it all for?

Just one way, you do get back home. You have a boy or a girl of your own and now and then you remember, and you know how they feel, and it's almost the same as if you were your own self again, as young as you could remember.

And God knows he was lucky, so many ways, and God knows he was thankful. Everything was good and better than he could have hoped for, better than he ever deserved; only, whatever it was and however good it was, it wasn't what you once had been, and had lost, and could never have again, and once in a while, once in a long time, you remembered, and knew how far you were away, and it hit you hard enough, that little while it lasted, to break your heart.”
― James Agee, quote from A Death in the Family

“Could the past be like this, he wondered, looking around at the empty clearing. A structure in your mind that you could burn down and get free of.”
― J.R. Ward, quote from Father Mine

“Of a certainty Madame has died," Leonie said wickedly. "Tiens, c'est bien drole!”
― Georgette Heyer, quote from These Old Shades

“I can’t bear the smell of cigars, can you?” said Lady Partridge.

“Lionel hates it too,” murmured Rachel. As did Nick, to whom the dry lavatorial stench of cigars signified the inexplicable confidence of other men’s tastes and habits, and their readiness to impose them on their fellows.”
― Alan Hollinghurst, quote from The Line of Beauty

“Try asking for Nyx's help."
"Nyx would not hear me." Kalona spoke so quietly that Shaunee almost didn't hear him. "she has not heard me for eons."
"During those eons how many times did you ask for her help?"
"Not once," he said
"Then how do you know she's not listening to you?”
― P.C. Cast, quote from Hidden

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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.