I don't know who said that novelists read the novels of others only to figure out how they are written. I believe it's true. We aren't satisfied with the secrets exposed on the surface of the page: we turn the book around to find the seams.

opened the door a crack wide enough for the entire world to pass through .

I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him.

The problem in public life is learning to overcome terror; the problem in married life is learning to overcome boredom.

Do not allow me to forget you

He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery lessons, and in which Amaranta had played Chinese checkers with Colonel Gerineldo Marquez, and in which Amarana Ursula had sewn the tiny clothing for the child, and in that flash of lucidity he became aware that he was unable to bear in his soul the crushing weight of so much past.

Age isn't how old you are but how old you feel.