“Deep down we've never been who we think we once were, and we only remember what never happened.”
“One mustn't dream of one's future; one must earn it.”
“Destiny doesn't do home visits... you have to go for it yourself.”
“I've always thought that anyone who needs to join a herd so badly must be a bit of a sheep himself.”
“Everything can be forgiven in this world, save telling the truth.”
“A good liar knows that the most efficient lie is always a truth that has had a key piece removed from it.”
“The world's very small when you don't have anywhere to go.”
“That's what happens when people reach old age; nobody remembers they've been bastards too.”
“There are times and places where not to be anyone is more honourable than to be someone.”
“In those days, Christmas still retained a certain aura of magic and mystery. The powdery light of winter, the hopeful expressions of people who lived among shadows and silence, lent that setting a slight air of promise in which at least children and those who had learned the art of forgetting could still believe.”
“People with a meagre soul always try to make others feel small too.”
“I don't belong to any side. What's more, I think flags are nothing but painted rags that represent rancid emotions. Just seeing someone wrapped up in one of them, spewing out hymns, badges and speeches, gives me the runs. I've always thought that anyone who needs to join a herd so badly must be a bit of a sheep himself”
“None of us are what we once were.”
“... deep down nobody is bad, only frightened.”
“I think today will be the day. Today our luck will change,' I proclaimed on the wings of the first coffee of the day, pure optimism in a liquid state.”
“Sometimes I think that Darwin made a mistake and that in fact man is descended from the pig, because eight out of every ten members of the human race are swine, and as crooked as a hog's tail.”
“Madmen always think it's the others who are mad.”
“Those times, against all expectations, were turning out to be good times. Then he felt afraid, because he knew they couldn't last long and those stolen drops of happiness and peace would evaporate.”
“In principle I'm an atheist, although in fact I have a lot of faith”
“A madman is one who considers himself sane and thinks that fools don’t belong in his rank.”
“Sometimes one forgets that not everyone in this world is a bastard.”
“Hay épocas y lugares en los que no ser nadie es más honorable que ser alguien.”
“Afterwards, once you lost all hope, time began to go faster and the senseless days deadened your soul.”
“Those were the words she wanted to hear and she finally surrendered to the temptation of believing them.”
“Men are like chestnuts they sell in the street: they’re all hot and they all smell good when you buy them, but when you take them out of the paper cone you realise that most of them are rotten inside.”
“Why is it that all wars are won by bankers?”
“Cuando Martín declaró en el juicio que la única buena costumbre que él defendía era la de leer y que el resto era asunto de cada uno, el juez añadió otros diez años de condena a los no sé cuanto que ya le habían caído.”
“When I saw my friend kissing the woman he loved it occurred to me that this moment, this instant stolen from time and from God, was worth all the days of misery that had brought us to this place and the many others that were doubtless waiting for us on our return to life. And that everything that was decent and clean and pure in this world and everything for which it was worth living and breathing was in those lips, in those hands and in the look of that fortunate couple who, I know, would be together for the rest of their lives.”
“You should get more sun and fresh air. The other day I read in the paper that vitamin D increases our faith in fellow humans.”
“Let's shake hands and be friends, but please, I beg you, stop farting like that, because I'm beginning to hallucinate and in my dreams I see Comrade Joseph Stalin doing the Charleston.”
“But suddenly, after all this time, I feel there is something to say, and if I don't
quickly write it down, my head will burst. It doesn't matter if you read it. It
doesn't even matter if I send it - assuming that could be done. Perhaps it comes
down to this. I am writing to you because you know nothing. Because you are far
away from me and know nothing.”
“The creative side of the female operates imperceptibly: its province is the potential man. When its play is unrestricted the level of the race is raised. One can always gauge the level of a period by the status of its womankind. Something more than freedom and opportunity are here involved because Woman's true nature never expressed itself in demands. Like water, woman always finds her own level. And like water also, she mirrors faithfully all that passes in the soul of man. What is called truly feminine therefore is only the deceptive masquerade which the uncreative male blindly accepts as the real show. It is the flattering substitute which the thwarted female offers in self-defense. It is the homosexual game which Narcissus exacts. It is most flagrantly revealed when the partners are extremely masculine and feminine. It can be mimicked most successfully in the shadow play of the avowed homosexuals. It reaches its blind culmination in the Don Juan. Here the pursuit of the unattainable reaches the burlesk proportions of a Chaplinesque pursuit. The end is always the same: Narcissus drowning in his own image.”
“Oh God. It isn’t Wednesday, is it, Hardy?” he pleaded, ascending the steps toward the footman, who smiled at sight of him, bowing as he opened the door.
"Yes, my lord. Has been all day, I’m afraid”
“He never seemed to get tired. Always first up and ready to move on. Never afraid of what lay ahead.”
“Books are not about passing the time. They're about other lives. Other worlds.”
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