Quotes from Maya's Notebook

Isabel Allende ·  387 pages

Rating: (18.9K votes)


“Mi Popo decía que el amor nos vuelve buenos. No importa a quién amemos, tampoco importa ser correspondidos o si la relación es duradera. Basta la experiencia de amar, eso nos transforma.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Es fácil juzgar a otros cuando uno no ha sufrido esa experiencia”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“our demons lose their power when we pull them out of the depths where they hide and look them in the face in broad daylight.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“It’s easy to judge others when we are not going through the same thing.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“As my Popo used to say, life is a tapestry we weave day by day with threads of different colors, some heavy and dark, others thin and bright, all the threads having their uses. The stupid things I did are already in the tapestry, indelible, but I’m not going to be weighed down by them till I die. What’s done is done; I have to look ahead.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook



“La vida es una tapiceria que se borda dia a dia con hilos de muchos colores, unos pesados y oscuros, otros delgados y luminosos, todos los hilos sirven.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“La mente es mucho mas interesante que el cuerpo.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Happiness is slippery, it slithers away between your fingers, but problems are something you can hold on to, they’ve got handles, they’re rough and hard”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Nothing strong can be built on a foundation of lies and omissions.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“I'd realized that in writing happiness is useless-without suffering there is no story.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook



“Me resulta complicado escribir sobre mi vida, porque no sè cuánto recuerdo y cuánto es producto de mi imaginación;la estricta verdad puede ser tediosa y por eso, sin darme ni cuenta, la cambio o la exagero, pero me he propuesto corregir ese defecto y mentir lo menos posible en el futuro.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Writing is like riding a bicycle: you don’t forget how, even if you go for years without doing it.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Hay grandeza y dignidad en la tragedia, por eso es fuente de inspiración, pero no quiero tragedia, por inmortal que sea, quiero una dicha sin bulla, íntima y muy discreta, para no provocar los celos de los dioses, siempre tan vengativos...”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Entonces se acariciaron titubeantes, reconociendose, tanteando el alma para asegurarse de que no estaban equivocados.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Los chilenos veneran al Papa, pero no le hacen caso en asuntos sexuales y sus concecuencias, porque un anciano celibe, de buen pasar economico, que no ha trabajado en su vida, poco sabe de eso.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook



“دون كرامة يصبح المرء أعزل ،يفقد إنسانيته و يفقد روحه”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“They taught using an Italian system of experimental education in which the students did whatever the fuck we wanted.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“I tried and tried to sleep, lulled by the movement, the purring of the motor, and the snores of the other passengers, but it's never been easy for me to sleep, and much less now, when I still have residues of the wild life running through my veins.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“На всичкото отгоре трябваше да ми даде и пари, понеже пристигнах без стотинка. Увери ме, че баба ми му пратила пощенски запис за тази цел, но не вярвам, тя никога не се сеща за прости решения. Пò би подхождало на характера ѝ да ми прати лопата, за да изровя съкровище.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Happiness is slippery, it slithers away between your fingers, but problems are something you can hold on to, they’ve got handles, they’re rough and hard.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook



“La vida costaba demasiado trabajo, no valía la pena levantarse por la mañana y ver arrastrarse las horas sin una finalidad. Descansar. Morir. Ser o no ser, como Hamlet. "No pienses, Maya, trata de mantenerte ocupada”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“You’re going to have time to get bored, Maya. Take advantage of it to write down the monumental stupidities you’ve committed, see if you can come to grips with them,”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“La felicidad es jabonosa, se escurre entre los dedos, pero a los problemas uno puede aferrarse, tienen asidero, son ásperos, duros.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“الجميع يندمون فيما بعد على رسائل الحب التي كتبوه”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Un dolor así, dolor del alma, no se quita con remedios, terapia o vacaciones; un dolor así se sufre, simplemente, a fondo, sin atenuantes, como debe ser”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook



“Si es cierto que las casas se impregnan de la vida transcurrida entre sus paredes, en el caso de los Corrales hay maldad.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Intimacy needs time to mature—a shared history, tears shed, obstacles overcome, photographs in an album. It’s a slow-growing plant.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“I had a serious library at my disposal, because my Popo believed that culture entered by osmosis and it was better to start early, but my favorite books were fairy tales.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


“Since we’re going to suffer, let’s clench our teeth,” she said. Pain like that, pain of the soul, does not go away with remedies, therapy, or vacations; you simply endure it deep down, fully, as you should. I would have done well to follow my Nini’s example, instead of denying that I was suffering and stifling the howl that was stuck in my chest.”
― Isabel Allende, quote from Maya's Notebook


About the author

Isabel Allende
Born place: in Lima, Peru
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I didn't do it,' he insisted.
'Then why did you run?' Sabrina asked.
'And send rabbits to eat us! I'm a seven-year-old girl,' Daphne said. 'Do you know how important bunny rabbits are to me?”
― Michael Buckley, quote from The Unusual Suspects


“Is it possible I’m not as sexy as I think I am?”
― R.K. Lilley, quote from In Flight


“It was ten against ten. So, as Svengal later recounted, it was no contest. He had the enemy outnumbered three to one.”
― John Flanagan, quote from The Invaders


“If thou be one whose heart the holy forms
Of young imagination have kept pure,
Stranger! henceforth be warned; and know, that pride,
Howe'er disguised in its own majesty,
Is littleness; that he, who feels contempt
For any living thing, hath faculties
Which he has never used; that thought with him
Is in its infancy. The man, whose eye
Is ever on himself, doth look on one,
The least of nature's works, one who might move
The wise man to that scorn which wisdom holds
Unlawful, ever. O, be wiser thou!
Instructed that true knowledge leads to love,
True dignity abides with him alone
Who, in the silent hour of inward thought,
Can still suspect, and still revere himself,
In lowliness of heart.”
― William Wordsworth, quote from Lyrical Ballads


“She’ll always carry that scar.”
“She will, only if you do.”
― Gayle Forman, quote from I Was Here


Interesting books

Nightshade
(74.4K)
Nightshade
by Andrea Cremer
Silas Marner
(59.2K)
Silas Marner
by George Eliot
The Maltese Falcon
(71.6K)
The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell Hammett
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
(277.6K)
Will Grayson, Will G...
by John Green
Light in August
(46.4K)
Light in August
by William Faulkner
The Man Without Qualities
(4.6K)
The Man Without Qual...
by Robert Musil

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.