“He realized...that the loudest are the least sincere, that arrogance is a quality of the ignorant, and that flatterers tend to be vicious. ”
“Do you truly believe that life is fair, Senor de la Vega?
-No, maestro, but I plan to do everything in my power to make it so.”
“He was not oppressed by a crowd because in the midst of all the hullabaloo he always found a quiet place for his soul. ”
“Heroism is a badly remunerated occupation, and often it leads to an early end, which is why it appeals to fanatics or persons with an unhealthy fascination with death. ”
“Nations should be governed by a council of learned men who must answer to the people for their actions.”
“The concept that you could possess land was as unfathomable to them as that of dividing up the sea.”
“Love is a condition that tends to cloud men’s reason, but it is not fatal. Usually all the patient needs is to have his love returned, and he will snap out of it and begin to sniff the air in search of new prey”
“Those native peoples were confounded by the mystery of the crucified man the whites worshipped, and they could not understand the advantage of living contrary to their inclinations in this world in order to enjoy a hypothetical well-being in another.”
“A infância é uma época desgraçada, cheia de temores infundados, como o medo de monstros imaginários e do ridículo. Do ponto de vista literário, não tem suspence, já que, salvo excepções, as crianças costumam ser um pouco desenxabidas. Além disso, não têm poder- os adultos decidem por elas e fazem-no mal, inculcam-lhes as suas próprias ideias erróneas sobre a realidade e depois os miúdos passam o resto das suas vidas a tentar livrarem-se delas.”
“Memory is fragile and capricious; each of us remembers and forgets according to what is convenient. The past is a notebook with many leaves on which we jot down our lives with ink that changes according to our state of mind.”
“A veces se preguntaba si los indios no estaban mejor antes, cuando eran dueños de California y vivían a su manera, con sus costumbres y sus dioses, pero enseguida se persignaba y pedía perdón a Dios por tamaña herejía. «¡Adónde vamos a parar si yo mismo dudo del cristianismo!», suspiraba, arrepentido.”
“[…]Diego, quien sigue ocupado de hacer justicia, en parte por buen corazón, pero más que nada porque le encanta vestirse de Zorro y correr aventuras de capa y espada. No menciono pistolas porque pronto abandonó su uso; considera que las armas de fuego, además de ser imprecisas, no son dignas de un valiente. Para batirse sólo necesita a Justina, la espada a la que ama como a una novia. Ya no tiene edad para esas chiquilladas, pero por lo visto mi amigo nunca sentará cabeza.”
“The Spanish authorities attributed La Pérouse's opinions to the regrettable fact that the man was French, but his writings made a profound impression on Padre Mendoza.”
“Full belly, happy heart,” was the favorite saying of Padre Mendoza, who had been obsessed with good nutrition ever since he’d heard of sailors suffering from scurvy when a lemon could have prevented their agony.”
“He’s a woman!” he shouted, horrified.
Padre Mendoza and the others came running up, only to stand and stare, mute with amazement, at the virginal breasts of the warrior.
“It’s going to be much more difficult to kill him now,” Padre Mendoza sighed finally.”
“Não há nada tão insatisfatório como um fim com pontas soltas, essa tendência moderna de deixar os livros a meio.”
“El heroísmo es una ocupación mal remunerada, que a menudo conduce a un fin prematuro, por eso atrae a personas fanáticas o con una malsana fascinación por la muerte. Existen muy pocos héroes de corazón romántico y de sangre liviana.”
“Tampoco entendían que los extranjeros plantaran una bandera en el suelo, marcaran líneas imaginarias, lo declararan de su propiedad y se ofendieran si alguien entraba persiguiendo a un venado. La idea de poseer la tierra les resultaba tan inverosímil como la de repartirse el mar.”
“Por fortuna no me enamoré del Zorro locamente, como le ocurre a la mayoría de las mujeres al conocerlo; siempre he mantenido la cabeza fría con respecto a él. Me di cuenta a tiempo de que nuestro héroe sólo es capaz de amar a aquellas que no le corresponden, y decidí ser una de ellas. Ha pretendido casarse conmigo cada vez que le falla una de sus novias o se queda viudo —eso ha ocurrido un par de veces—, y me he negado. Tal vez por eso sueña conmigo cuando come pesado. Si yo lo aceptara como marido, muy pronto se sentiría atrapado y yo tendría que morirme para dejarle libre, como hicieron sus dos esposas. Prefiero esperar nuestra vejez con paciencia de beduino. Sé que estaremos juntos cuando él sea un anciano de piernas enclenques y mala cabeza, cuando otros zorros más jóvenes le hayan reemplazado, y en el caso improbable de que alguna dama le abriera su balcón y él no fuera capaz de treparlo. ¡Entonces me vengaré de las penurias que el Zorro me ha hecho pasar!”
“Diego había usado el florete a diario desde que era un niño, pero no había tenido que pelear en serio. Su único duelo a muerte fue con pistolas y había sido mucho más limpio. Comprobó que no hay nada honorable en un combate real, donde las reglas no cuentan para nada. La única regla es vencer, cueste lo que cueste. Los filos de las armas no chocaban en una elegante coreografía, como en las clases de esgrima, sino que apuntaban directamente al enemigo para atravesarlo. La caballerosidad no existía, los golpes eran feroces y no se daba cuartel a nadie. La sensación que transmitía el acero al entrar en la carne de un hombre era indescriptible. Se apoderó de él una mezcla de despiadada exaltación, de repugnancia y triunfo, perdió la noción de la realidad y se transformó en una bestia.”
“Hasta ese momento no tenía conciencia cabal de su doble personalidad, por una parte Diego de la Vega, elegante, melindroso, hipocondríaco, y por otra el Zorro, audaz, atrevido, juguetón. Suponía que en algún punto entremedio estaba su verdadero carácter, pero no sabía cómo era, si ninguno de los dos, o la suma de ambos.”
“The Indians’ insistence on clinging to their customs had to be the work of Satan there was no other explanation which is why the friars went out to hunt down and lasso the deserters and then whipped their doctrine of
love and forgiveness into them.”
“He had the intellectual capacity of a louse, but shone in cooking up new ways to be cruel.”
“A deprins astfel să citească expresia corporală şi a descoperit că nu întotdeauna cuvintele corespund intenţiilor. A priceput că bătăuşii sunt îndeobşte uşor de învins, că cei mai vorbăreţi sunt şi cei mai puţin sinceri, că aroganţa e tipică ignoranţilor, că linguşitorii sunt nişte javre.”
“ایزابل از برهنگی به نمایش درآمده [توسط سرخپوستان] استفاده می کرد تا کنجکاوی دیرینه اش را ارضا کند. سال ها از خودش پرسیده بود که مردها و زن ها چه تفاوتی ممکن است داشته باشند. حالا در مرز ناامیدی و سرخوردگی بود، چون به هرحال، این تفاوت خیلی کوچک به نظر می رسید. حتی، آن طور که به ندیمه اش گفت، تفاوت موجود به راحتی در کیف دستی اش جا می گرفت”
“Later Tomás de Romeu asked Diego why he had challenged Moncada if he was not prepared to shoot him. Diego replied that he had never intended to carry a death on his conscience; all he had wanted was to humiliate him.”
“They would regret that they had not killed him; he would get out of that hole and find Juliana sooner or later, even if he had to pursue her to hell itself. “Oh, you won’t have to go that far, we are on our way to California," Diego said in farewell”
“Considering the circumstances, it was a rather good kiss. In reality, it would have been perfect if they both had not been coughing from the smoke.”
“Salvo excepciones, los niños suelen ser un poco sosos. Además, carecen de poder, los adultos deciden por ellos y lo hacen mal, les inculcan sus propias ideas erróneas sobre la realidad y después los críos pasan el resto de sus vidas tratando de librarse de ellas.”
“No one in this world is scar free.”
“These men wanted Hitler in a position to put an end to the Republic and to return Germany to the days of the Kaiser. But then the chancellor had become a dictator, putting himself and his followers above the , and now they were using that power to strip the Jews of their rights”
“What do you dream about?” she asks me.
“Finding someone,” I say immediately. “Someone who I can trust, someone who makes me complete.” I bite my lip, and my face flushes hot. “That's stupid, I know. It's just that I never had anybody, really. Not someone who I chose, or who chose me.”
Lark rolls toward me, propping herself up on her elbow. She looks into my eyes and says solemnly, “I chose you.”
Then, slowly, she bends until her lips touch mine. Her lilac hair tumbles over us, and though it I can see the stars shining. Oh Earth, they're spinning! They're dancing…”
“one has a singularity contained within a region of space-time known as a black hole.”
“All power corrupts, but we need electricity.”
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