Quotes from Strange Pilgrims

“The fact is that being seductive is an addiction that can never be satisfied.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“أحمد الله أنني أدفع ثمن حماقاتي غاليًا !”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“I continued working without a break, but in the middle of the third story...I felt myself tiring more than if I had been working on a novel. The same thing happened with the fourth. In fact, I did not have the energy to finish them. Now I know why: The effort involved in writing a short story is as intense as beginning a novel, where everything must be defined in the first paragraph: structure, tone, style, rhythm, length, and sometimes even the personality of a character. All the rest is the pleasure of writing, the most intimate, solitary pleasure one can imagine, and if the rest of one's life is not spent correcting the novel, it is because the same iron rigor needed to begin the book is required to end it. But a story has no beginning, no end: Either it works or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, my own experience, and the experience of others, shows that most of the time it is better for one's health to start again in another direction, or toss the story in the wastebasket. Someone, I don't remember who, made the point with this comforting phrase: "Good writers are appreciated more for what they tear up than for what they publish.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“كان قد أقلع عن تناول القهوة منذ ثلاثين عاما بأمر من أطبائه، و لكنه قال:" إذا تأكدت يوما من أنني سأموت، سأعود إلى تناول القهوة". و ربما واتته تلك الساعة الآن !”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“La coquetería es un vicio que no se sacia con nada.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“She was beautiful and lithe, with soft skin the color of bread and eyes like green almonds, and she had straight black hair that reached to her shoulders, and an aura of antiquity that could just as well have been Indonesian as Andean. She was dressed with subtle taste: a lynx jacket, a raw silk blouse with very delicate flowers, natural linen trousers, and shoes with a narrow stripe the color of bougainvillea. ‘This is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,’ I thought, when I saw her pass by with the stealthy stride of a lioness, while I waited in the check-in line at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris for the plane to New York.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Hacía todo de un modo metódico y parsimonioso, como si no hubiera nada que no estuviera previsto para ella desde su nacimiento.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Sólo entonces caí en la cuenta de que los vecinos de asiento en los aviones, al igual que los matrimonios viejos, no se dan los buenos días al despertar. Tampoco ella.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Soñé que asistía a mi propio entierro, a pie, caminando entre un grupo de amigos vestidos de luto solemne, pero con un ánimo de fiesta. Todos parecíamos dichosos de estar juntos. Y yo más que nadie, por aquella grata oportunidad que me daba la muerte para estar con mis amigos de América Latina, los más antiguos, los más queridos, los que no veía desde hacía más tiempo. Al final de la ceremonia, cuando empezaron a irse, yo intenté acompañarlos, pero uno de ellos me hizo ver con una severidad terminante que para mí se había acabado la fiesta. «Eres el único que no puede irse», me dijo. Sólo entonces comprendí que morir es no estar nunca más con los amigos.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“A modo de disculpa le pregunte si creía en los amores a primera vista "claro que si", me dijo. "Los imposibles son los otros".”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Está mal que tengan en el cuarto de servicio un bote de remos que no les sirve para nada — dijo el padre—. Pero está peor que quieran tener además equipos de buceo.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“E' stata una strana esperienza creativa che merita di essere spiegata, anche solo perché i bambini che da grandi vogliono diventare scrittori sappiamo fin d'ora quanto è insaziabile e corrosivo il vizio di scrivere.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“y entonces comprendió que había valido la pena esperar tantos y tantos anos, y haber sufrido tanto en la oscuridad, aunque solo hubiera sido para vivir aquel instante.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Se le acabo la mitad de la vida en el dormitorio frente a los escombros del único hombre que había amado, y que permaneció en el letargo durante casi treinta anos, tendido en la cama de sus amores juveniles sobre un colchón de cuero de chivo.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Tak ada gunanya kamu terus berdoa," kata petugas, tanpa sikap ramah yang dia tunjukkan sebelumnya. "Bahkan Tuhan pun pergi berlibur di bulan Agustus.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Bawakan juga kopil" pesannya dalam bahasa Prancis yang sempurna. Dia pun memperinci pesanan tanpa memperhatikan makna gandanya. "Italian style, yang cukup kuat untuk membangkitkan orang mati.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

“Dia meminumnya tanpa gula, menyesapnya pelan-pelan, dan kemudian membalikkan cangkir di atas cawan agar ampas kopinya, setelah bertahun-tahun lamanya, punya waktu untuk menuliskan takdirnya. Kenangan rasa kopi itu telah menyelamatkannya dari pikiran-pikiran suram.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, quote from Strange Pilgrims

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“Clay snorted. “Special powers like what?” he’d asked.
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