Quotes from the Book

...for human words are like shadows, and shadows are incapable of explaining light and between shadow and light there is the opaque body from which words are born..
Unlike Joseph her husband, Mary is neither upright nor pious, but she is not blame for this, the blame lies with the language she speaks if not with the men who invented it, because that language has no feminine form for the words upright and pious.
Yet human experience and the practice of communication have shown throughout the ages that definitions are an illusion, like having a speech defect and trying to say love but unable to get the word out, or, better, having a tongue in one's head but unable to feel love.
The time for miracles has either passed or not come yet, besides, miracles, genuine miracles, whatever people say, are not such a good idea, if it means destroying the very order of things in order to improve them.
..."o Bem e o Mal não existem em si mesmos, cada um deles é somente a ausência do outro.
God will save you. Surely you're forgetting that God saves souls rather than bodies.
The sun appears in one of the upper corners of the rectangle, on the left of anyone looking at the picture.
The angel told her, An honest man who committed a crime, you have no idea how many honest men have committed crimes, their crimes are countless, and contrary to popular belief these are the only crimes that cannot be forgiven.
It just isn't possible for you to ask me all the questions, or for me to give you all the answers.
Are dreams perhaps the soul’s memories of the body,
Morrerão milhares, Morrerão centenas de milhares, Morrerão centenas de milhares de homens e mulheres, a terra encher-se-á de gritos de dor, de uivos e roncos de agonia, o fumo dos queimados cobrirá o sol, a gordura deles rechinará sobre as brasas, o cheiro agoniará, e tudo isto será por minha culpa, Não por tua culpa, por tua causa, Pai, afasta de mim este cálice, Que tu o bebas é a condição do meu poder e da tua glória, Não quero esta glória, Mas eu quero esse poder.
Olharei a tua sombra se não quiseres que te olhe a ti, disse-lhe, e ele respondeu, Quero estar onde minha sombra estiver, se lá é que estiverem os teus olhos. Amavam-se e diziam palavras como estas, não apenas por serem belas ou verdadeiras, se é possível ser-se o mesmo ao mesmo tempo, mas porque pressentiam que o tempo das sombras estava chegando na sua hora, e era preciso que começassem a acostumar-se, ainda juntos, à escuridão da ausência definitiva.
God does not forgive the sins He makes us commit.
Então Jesus compreendeu que viera trazido ao engano como se leva o cordeiro ao sacrifício, que a sua vida fora traçada para morrer assim desde o princípio dos princípios, e, subindo-lhe à lembrança o rio de sangue e de sofrimento que do seu lado irá nascer e alagar toda a terra, clamou para o céu aberto onde Deus sorria, Homens, perdoai-lhe, porque ele não sabe o que fez.
Somewhere in the infinite that He occupies, God advances and withdraws the pawns of the other games He plays, but it is too soon to worry about this one, all He need do for the present is allow things to take their natural course, apart from the occasional adjustment with the tip of His little finger to make sure some stray thought or action does not interfere with the harmony of destinies.
The instant is gone, time has carried us into the realm of memory, it was like this, no, it was not, and everything becomes what we choose to invent.
O artesão no seu trabalho não deve levantar-se ante o maior doutor, podemos imaginar com que orgulho profissional começava José a instruir os seus filhos mais velhos, um após outro, à medida que chegavam à idade, primeiro Jesus, depois Tiago, depois José, depois Judas, nos segredos e tradições da arte carpinteira, atento ele, também, à antiga sentença popular que assim reza, O trabalho do menino é pouco, mas quem o desdenha é louco, foi o que veio a chamar-se trabalho infantil.
Jesus wiped his tears on the back of his hand, blew his nose, who knows where, and yes, there is no point spending the whole day here, the desert is what it is, it surrounds us, in some ways protects us, but when it comes to giving, it gives us nothing, it simply looks on, and when the sun suddenly clouds over, so that we find ourselves thinking, The sky mirrors our sorrow, we are being foolish, because the sky is quite impartial and neither rejoices in our happiness nor is cast down by our grief.
But why sacrifice Your own son’s life for so little, surely all You have to do is send a prophet. The time when people listened to prophets has passed, nowadays one must administer stronger medicine, shock treatment, to touch men’s hearts and stir their feelings. Such as a son of God hanging from a cross. Yes, why not.
That night there was no conversation, no prayers or stories around the fire, as if the proximity of Jerusalem demanded respectful silence, each man searching his heart and asking, Who is this person who resembles me yet whom I fail to recognize. This is not what they actually said, for people do not start talking to themselves like that, nor was this even in their conscious thoughts, but there can be no doubt that as we sit staring into the flames of a camp fire, our silence can be expressed only with words like these, which say everything.
The will of God, the creator and ruler of the universe, embraces all possible wills, His own as well as that of every man born into this world. If this is so, intervened Jesus with sudden insight, then each man is a part of God.

About José Saramago

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