You young people never say anything. And us old folks don't know how to stop talking. Carlos Ruiz Zafon More Quotes by Carlos Ruiz Zafon More Quotes From Carlos Ruiz Zafon ...until that moment I had not understood that this was a story about lonely people, about absence and loss, and that that was why I had taken refuge in it until it became confused with my own life, like someone who has escaped into the pages of a novel because those whom he needs to love seem nothing more than ghosts inhabiting the mind of a stranger. Carlos Ruiz Zafon confused lonely taken Time has taught me not to lose hope, yet not to trust too much in hope either. Carlos Ruiz Zafon taught too-much time Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens. Carlos Ruiz Zafon running inspirational book Remember me, even if it's only in a corner and secretly. Don't let me go. Carlos Ruiz Zafon let-me-go corners remember Maturity is simply the process of discovering that everything you believed in when you were young is false and that all the things you refused to believe in turn out to be true. Carlos Ruiz Zafon maturity process believe But in good time you'll see that sometimes what matters isn't what one gives but what one gives up. Carlos Ruiz Zafon good-times what-matters giving-up I could tell you it's the heart, but what is really killing him is loneliness. Memories are worse than bullets. Carlos Ruiz Zafon loneliness heart memories I see cities as organisms, as living creatures. To me Madrid is a man and Barcelona is a woman. And it's a woman who's extremely vain. One of the great Catalan poets, Joan Maragall, wrote this famous poem in which he called Barcelona the great enchantress, or some kind of sorceress, and in which the city has this dark enticing presence that seduces and lures people. I think Barcelona has a lot of that. Carlos Ruiz Zafon dark men thinking Never trust girls who let themselves be touched right away. But even less those who need a priest for approval. Carlos Ruiz Zafon girl approval needs One mustn't dream of one's future; one must earn it. Carlos Ruiz Zafon dream A good liar knows that the most efficient lie is always a truth that has had a key piece removed from it. Carlos Ruiz Zafon keys liars lying It’s a story of love, of hatred, and of the dreams that live in the shadow of the wind. Carlos Ruiz Zafon hatred dream wind The moment you stop to think about whether you love someone, you've already stopped loving that person forever. Carlos Ruiz Zafon moments forever thinking People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren't already complicated enough. Carlos Ruiz Zafon lesson-learned life people Every book has a soul, the soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of those who read it and dream about it. Carlos Ruiz Zafon soul dream book Waiting is the rust of the soul. Carlos Ruiz Zafon rust soul waiting It's up to you how you waste your time and money. I'm staying here to read: life's too short. Carlos Ruiz Zafon waste up-to-you too-short We think we understand a song's lyrics but what makes us believe in them, or not, is the music Carlos Ruiz Zafon song believe thinking Books hold no passports. There's only one true literary tradition: the human. Carlos Ruiz Zafon passports tradition book Nobody had noticed, nobody had paid attention, but, as usual, the essential part of the matter had been settled before the story had begun, and by then it was too late. Carlos Ruiz Zafon essentials usual too-late