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Quote by Isabel Allende

“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.”

Quote by Isabel Allende

Book:Zorro

Work

Zorro

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Author

Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende, born on August 2, 1942, is a renowned Chilean writer known for her magical realism style. Her works have gained widespread popularity, with notable titles including 'Love in the Time of Cholera' and 'The House of the Spirits'. more

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“[…]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.”

“When faced with a spider, I instantly turn into a fearsome warrior, ready to take on my foe as the female version of Zorro. I enter the combat zone with all the careful observance and skill of the new movies’ Sherlock Holmes. I am ready. I am fearless. And I will be victorious. Once, in a moment of true courage, I took a vacuum cleaner, pulled it to a position above my head, and fired. I was a champion that night. A valiant heroine whose bravery would be sung for many a moon . . . until wondering, hours later . . . IS THAT THING REALLY DEAD?!”

“Arnold had never given much thought to whether or not he loved America—but now it seemed pretty obvious to him that he didn’t. Not in the way Nathan Hale had loved America. Or even in the way his late father, a Dutch-Jewish refugee, had loved America. In fact, he found the idea of sacrificing his life for his country somewhat abhorrent. Moreover, it wasn’t that he disliked abstract loyalties in general. He loved New York, for instance: Senegalese takeout at three a.m., and strolling through the Botanical Gardens on the first crisp day of autumn, and feeding the peacocks at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. If Manhattan were invaded—if New Jersey were to send an expeditionary force of militiamen across the Hudson River—he’d willingly take up arms to defend his city. He also loved Sandpiper Key in Florida, where they owned a time-share, and maybe Brown University, where he’d spent five years of graduate school. But the United States? No one could mistake his qualified praise for love.”

“Only hinted at in some of these tales, and clearly stated in others, it is apparent that there was a long and continuing conflict between paganism and Christianity in the early centuries A.D. This may also be the explanation behind other well creation tales, such as the slaying by St Barry of a 'great serpent' in County Roscommon. The saint thrust his crozier at it before it disappeared into Lough Lagan, and where his knee touched the ground, a holy well, Tobar Barry, sprang up. Although the serpent may represent paganism, and the saint's victory is therefore the victory of Christianity over paganism, we cannot entirely ignore the possibility that some of the serpents in similar Irish tales may have been real water monsters, which are still seen from time to time in the lakes of Ireland and Scotland. These eerie, ugly monsters, with their aura of primeval mystery, appropriately symbolize the uncouth savagery which the Christians attributed to all non-Christian beliefs; but that is not to say that the monsters were totally symbolic and did not have a reality of their own.”