My writing comes not from the happy moments, but from struggle and grief. Isabel Allende More Quotes by Isabel Allende More Quotes From Isabel Allende How many times have I told you not to believe everything you hear? Seek truth for yourself. Isabel Allende believe Aphrodite is about lust and gluttony - the only two sins worth committing, in my opinion. Isabel Allende opinionlusttwo As I travel through life, I gather experiences that lie imprinted on the deepest strata of memory, and there they ferment, are transformed, and sometimes rise to the surface and sprout like strange plants from other worlds. What is the fertile humus of the subconscious composed of? Why are certain images converted into recurrent themes in nightmares or writing? Isabel Allende writingmemorieslying Literary characters, like my grandmother's apparitions, are fragile beings, easily frightened; they must be treated with care so they will feel comfortable in my pages Isabel Allende grandmothercarecharacter fiction happens in the belly, it doesn't happen in the brain. Isabel Allende bellybrainfiction Society decides when we get old. But the spirit never ages. Isabel Allende spiritage I was such a sullen, angry, sad kid. I'm sure there are writers who have had happy childhoods, but what are you going to write about? No ghosts, no fear. I'm very happy that I had an unhappy and uncomfortable childhood. Isabel Allende childhoodwritingkids In the United States, the fact that you can start again gives a lot of energy and strength and youth to this country. That is why it's so powerful in many ways, and so creative. Isabel Allende powerfulgivingcountry Women are the only ones who will be able to eliminate the patriarchy, and when that happens all of us will win, men as much as women. Isabel Allende ablewinningmen I'm not above anybody. I'm, I'm not better than anybody. I am made of the same material that everybody else is and if somebody can be a saint, so can I and if somebody can be a torturer, so can I. Isabel Allende materialssaintmade In terrible moments, in moments of revolution, of war or repression, of illness or death, people react with incredible strength. Isabel Allende strengthwarpeople Catholics form a majority in Chile, although there are more and more Evangelicals and Pentacostals who irritate everyone because they have a direct understanding with God while everyone else must pass through the priestly bureaucracy. Isabel Allende majoritycatholicunderstanding I was born in ancient times, at the end of the world, in a patriarchal Catholic and conservative family. No wonder that by age five I was a raging feminist - although the term had not reached Chile yet, so nobody knew what the heck was wrong with me. Isabel Allende feministcatholicage We live in an era where masses of people come and go across a hostile planet, desolate and violent. Refugees, emigrants, exiles, deportees. We are a tragic contingent. Isabel Allende eraspeacepeople Most people feel younger than their age, but the culture values youth, success, beauty, productivity. There is no space in this culture for older people. Isabel Allende spaceagepeople In my book tours I get to meet an audience every night. And I see that there are mostly young people, and there are a lot of more men than before, but always young, I don't get older men. As I'm getting older, my audience gets younger! Isabel Allende mennightbook I was born in the middle of the Second World War when the United States dropped their atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when millions of people were dying in concentration camps, when half the planet were colonies that belonged to empires. The word feminism didn't exist. And in my lifetime I have seen all these things improved, changed. We are more connected, more informed. We can fight against stuff together in ways we couldn't before. Isabel Allende hiroshima-and-nagasakifightingwar My grandfather was dying, and told the family he had decided to die. ... At that moment I wanted so badly to write and tell him that he was never going to die, that somehow he would always be present in my life, because he had a theory that death didn't exist, only forgetfulness did. He believed that if you can keep people in your memory, they will live forever. That's what he did with my grandmother. Isabel Allende grandmotherwritingmemories Nothing changes; we humans repeat the same sins over and over, eternally. Isabel Allende repeatssinhumans There is no light without shadow, just as there is no happiness without pain. Isabel Allende shadowpainlight
