Juan Gallego > Juan's Quotes

“If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.”
― Hermann Hesse, Demian

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
― Reinhold Niebuhr

“If you had to relive your life exactly as it was – same successes and failures, same happiness, same miseries, same mixture of comedy and tragedy – would you want to? Was it worth it?”
― Gavin Extence, The Universe Versus Alex Woods

“In life, there are no true beginnings or endings.”
― Gavin Extence, The Universe Versus Alex Woods

“They sent the shrink round yesterday. He's put me on Prozac. Prozac! He thinks I'm depressed.'
'Aren't you depressed?'
'I wasn't depressed.'
'You did try to kill yourself,' I pointed out.
'Yes. That's what he said too. Apparently that's a classic symptom. It's not thought a sane plan of action for someone in my situation.”
― Gavin Extence, The Universe Versus Alex Woods

“Why is it that twenty-four hours in the company of your family is capable of reducing you to a teenager?”
― Maggie O'Farrell, Instructions for a Heatwave

“Gretta sits herself down at the table. Robert has arranged everything she needs: a plate, a knife, a bowl with a spoon, a pat of butter, a jar of jam. It is in such small acts of kindness that people know they are loved.”
― Maggie O'Farrell, Instructions for a Heatwave

“The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.”
― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

“There is no story that is not true, [...] The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.”
― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.

It was deeper and more intimate that the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw.

Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself.”
― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

“Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.”
― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

“The most important thing I learned [...] was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist.”
― Gavin Extence, The Universe Versus Alex Woods

“... not all scars are bad, Alex. Some are worth hanging on to ...”
― Gavin Extence, The Universe Versus Alex Woods

“brain creates a whole, unique universe. It contains everything we know. Everything we see or touch. Everything we feel and remember. In a sense, our brains create all of reality for us. Without the brain, there’s nothing. Some people find this idea scary, but I think it’s rather beautiful.”
― Gavin Extence, The Universe Versus Alex Woods

“When we're afraid, we lose all sense of analysis and reflection. Our fear paralyzes us. Besides, fear has always been the driving force behind all dictators' repression.”
― Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis

“It's fear that makes us lose our conscience. It's also what transforms us into cowards.”
― Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis

“You have to believe. Otherwise, it will never happen.”
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

“Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel.”
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

“I am the most miserable person who ever lived," he said... "You are young, and in love," said Primus. "Every young man in your position is the most miserable young man who ever lived.”
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

“A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now, that's a question.”
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

“It's not hard to own something. Or everything. You just have to know that it's yours, and then be willing to let it go.”
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

“The squirrel has not yet found the acorn that will grow into the oak that will be cut to form the cradle of the babe that will grow to slay me.”
― Neil Gaiman, Stardust

“The stuff you bring back from dreams is free.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 7: Brief Lives

“In life you'll meet a lot of jerks. If they hurt you, tell yourself that it's because they're stupid. That will help keep you from reacting to their cruelty. Because there is nothing worse than bitterness and vengeance... Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself.”
― Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

“cuando entré en su habitación estaba llorando... No pertenecíamos a la misma clase social, pero al menos estabamos en la misma cama”
― Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis

“Preferiría que estuviera vivo y encarcelado que muerto como un héroe”
― Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis

“I think; therefore I am.”
― Rene Descartes

“Andábamos sin buscarnos, pero sabiendo que andábamos para encontrarnos”
― Julio Cortazar, Rayuela

“Lo que mucha gente llama amar consiste en elegir una mujer y casarse con ella. La eligen, te lo juro, los he visto. Como si se pudiera elegir en el amor, como si no fuera un rayo que te parte los huesos y te deja estaqueado en la mitad del patio. Vos dirás que la eligen porque-la-aman, yo creo que es al vesre. A Beatriz no se la elige, a Julieta no se la elige. Vos no elegís la lluvia que te va a calar hasta los huesos cuando salís de un concierto.”
― Julio Cortázar, Rayuela

“Música! Melancólico alimento para los que vivimos de amor.”
― Julio Cortázar, Rayuela