I became aware that the invincible power that has moved the world is unrequited, not happy, love.

Unfortunately many young writers are more concerned with fame than with their own work... It's much more important to write than to be written about.

[The captain] looked at Florentino Ariza, his invincible power, his intrepid love and was overwhelmed by the belated suspicion that it is life, more than death, that has no limits.

He shook my hand and said goodbye with a sentence that might have been either good advice or a threat: "Take good care of yourself.

Inspiration gives no warnings.

Then he knew that they had rounded the cape of good hope, and he took her large, soft hand again and covered it with forlorn little kisses, first the hard metacarpus, the long, discerning fingers, the diaphanous nails, and then the hieroglyphics of her destiny on her perspiring palm.

Horses frighten me as much as chickens do,’ he said. ‘That is too bad, because lack of communication with horses has impeded human progress,’ said Abrenuncio. ‘If we ever broke down the barriers, we could produce the centaur.