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

“And involuntarily I compared the childish sarcasm, the religious sarcasm of Voltaire with the irresistible irony of the German philosopher whose influence is henceforth ineffaceable.”
― Guy de Maupassant, quote from The Complete Short Stories of Guy de Maupassant, Part One


“Being chronically underslept, overexercising, or experiencing chronic psychological stress—a hallmark of modern life—can all trigger unhealthy levels of cortisol in the body. But so can prolonged periods of not eating (extended fasting) or eating too little (excessive calorie restriction).”
― quote from It Starts with Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways


“In her novel Regeneration, Pat Barker writes of a doctor who 'knew only too well how often the early stages of change or cure may mimic deterioration. Cut a chrysalis open, and you will find a rotting caterpillar. What you will never find is that mythical creature, half caterpillar, half butterfly, a fit emblem of the human soul, for those whose cast of mind leads them to seek such emblems. No, the process of transformation consists almost entirely of decay.”
― Rebecca Solnit, quote from A Field Guide to Getting Lost


“He had missed the deepest of all companionships, a relation with the earth itself, with a countryside and a people. That relationship he knew cannot be gone after and found; it must be long and deliberate, unconscious. It must, indeed, be a way of living.”
― Willa Cather, quote from Lucy Gayheart


“They unlike their deceitful brothers, uphold the laws of our realm.”
― Candace Knoebel, quote from Born in Flames


Interesting books

The Year of Fog
(13.8K)
The Year of Fog
by Michelle Richmond
Dead to You
(7.6K)
Dead to You
by Lisa McMann
The Wisdom of Life
(7.9K)
The Wisdom of Life
by Arthur Schopenhauer
Buddhist Boot Camp Manuscript
(3.5K)
Buddhist Boot Camp M...
by Timber Hawkeye
Vaclav and Lena
(4.8K)
Vaclav and Lena
by Haley Tanner
Before Midnight: A Retelling of "Cinderella"
(9.4K)
Before Midnight: A R...
by Cameron Dokey

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.