At some point, you no longer feel pain. Sensation disappears and reason is dulled, until you lose all grasp of time and place.

It was also her nature that caused her letters to avoid emotional pitfalls and confine themselves to relating the events of her daily life in the utilitarian style of a ship's log. In reality they were distracted letters, intended to keep the coals alive without putting her hand in the fire, while Florentino Ariza burned himself alive in every line.

When I wake up," he said, "remind me that I'm going to marry her.

He is ugly and sad, but he is all love.

Each man is master of his own death, and all that we can do when the time comes is to help him die without fear of pain.

Intrigued by that enigma, he dug so deeply into her sentiments that in search of interest he found love, because by trying to make her love him he ended up falling in love with her.

The truth is that I know very few novelists who have been satisfied with the adaptation of their books for the screen.