Quotessence
Home / Authors / Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Carlos Ruiz Zafon Quotes

Novelist

Filter quotes by topic

AllBookWorldPeopleThinkingShadow Of The WindIfsKnowsStoriesMenSoulWayBelieveDreamFirstsHumansNeedsRememberSometimesWritingHeart

Famous Carlos Ruiz Zafon Quotes

“A piece of literature can be many things but first of all it must capture its audience. You need to seduce people, entice them into a world of beauty and horror, light and shadow, of passion, of romance, of mystery. That's the magic of it. Beyond that, of course, you can open a dialogue about the ideas which interest you, but first of all you absolutely must get inside people's minds.”

PeopleWorldNeedsMindFirstsIdeasLightRomancePassionCoursesLiteratureInterestAudiencePiecesMagicMysteryHorrorShadowDialogueCaptureSeducingLight And Shadow
Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Create image

“The thing is that my first novel, which was basically a mystery adventure story, won quite an important award in Spain for young adult fiction, and because of this it became a very successful book, and right now it's some sort of a standard title, it's read widely in many high schools in Spain, so I think, in a way, I was a victim of my own success in the field of young adult fiction, because it was never my own natural register. I never intended to write that kind of fiction, but I became very successful at it.”

ThinkingWayWritingFirstsKindImportantBookStoriesSchoolYoungNaturalMy OwnFictionNovelSuccessfulMysteryFieldsAdventureRight NowStandardsHigh SchoolAdultsVictimYoung AdultTitlesAwardsSpainRegister
Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Create image

“A big success can be very confusing if it comes too early in your life. When you are young, you are more vulnerable to vanity. I was 36 when I wrote The Shadow of the Wind and the success of it was very gradual. If you have this kind of success straight off, I think there is a danger you can become an idiot, because you don't have a perspective. It hasn't changed me a lot. I fly first class now. But those things don't change you. If I am pretentious, I was before, I haven't changed. The only thing is, I am less anxious now.”

IfsThinkingFirstsKindBigsYoungClassHavensDangerChangedWindPerspectiveShadowVulnerableVanityIdiotAnxiousConfusingPretentiousDon't ChangeFirst ClassShadow Of The WindI Haven't Changed
Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Create image

“Once, in my father's bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return.”

ThinkingWorldWayFirstsHeartBookMatterFatherLeftMemoriesForgetBehindsOur LivesHeardReturnReaderMarkDeeperCustomersSooner Or LaterEchoesLeft BehindPalacesOur MemoriesAccompanyBookshopsShadow Of The WindAccompany Us
Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Create image

“A writer never forgets the first time he accepted a few coins or a word of praise in exchange for a story. He will never forget the sweet poison of vanity in his blood and the belief that, if he succeeds in not letting anyone discover his lack of talent, the dream of literature will provide him with a roof over his head, a hot meal at the end of the day, and what he covets the most: his name printed on a miserable piece of paper that surely will outlive him. A writer is condemned to remember that moment, because from then on he is doomed and his soul has a price.”

IfsFirstsSoulEndsMomentsStoriesDreamRememberLiteratureNamesBeliefForgetPiecesBloodTalentSweetSucceedPaperFirst TimePraiseHotAcceptedMiserableVanityMealsPoisonThe End Of The DayThat MomentNever ForgetRoofDoomedCoinsPrintedSweet Poison
Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Create image

“That afternoon the sky was scattered with black clouds galloping in from the sea and clustering over the city. Flashes of lightening echoed on the horizon and a charged warm wind smelling of dust announced a powerful summer storm. When I reached the station I noticed the first few drops, shiny and heavy, like coins falling from heaven...Night seemed to fall suddenly, interrupted only by the lightning now bursting over the city, leaving a trail of noise and fury.”

FirstsNightFallHeavenBlackPowerfulCitiesSeaSkyWindSummerLeavingCloudsHeavyWarmStormNoiseDustStationsHorizonAfternoonFlashLightningCoinsTrailsFuryInterruptedBurstingGallopingBlack Clouds
Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Create image

“The only use for military service is that it reveals the number of morons in the population," he would remark. "And that can be discovered in the first two weeks; there's no need for two years. Army, Marriage, the Church and Banking: the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Yes, go on, laugh.”

NeedsYearsFirstsTwoUseChurchNumbersLaughingFourWeekMilitaryGoes OnArmyPopulationTwo YearsApocalypseBankingRemarksTwo WeeksMoronMilitary ServiceHorsemenFour HorsemenFour Horsemen Of The Apocalypse
Book:The Shadow Of The Wind
Create image