I was not supposed to be in any way a liberated person. I was a female born in the '40s in a patriarchal family; I was supposed to marry and make everyone around me happy.
Isabel AllendeIt is common knowledge that no man that women flock to boasts of his conquests. Those who do, lie.
Isabel AllendeSilence before being born, silence after death: life is nothing but noise between two unfathomable silences.
Isabel AllendeIn my private circle I am a mother, grandmother, wife, friend, daughter... the success means nothing to my small tribe.
Isabel AllendeThe most savory grape, the one that produces the wines with best texture and aroma, the sweetest and most generous, doesn't grow in rich soil but in stony land; the plant, with a mother's obstinacy, overcomes obstacles to thrust its roots deep into the ground and take advantage of every drop of water. That, my grandmother explained to me, is how flavors are concentrated in the grape.
Isabel AllendeAs I travel through life, I gather experiences that lie imprinted on the deepest strata of memory, and there they ferment, are transformed, and sometimes rise to the surface and sprout like strange plants from other worlds. What is the fertile humus of the subconscious composed of? Why are certain images converted into recurrent themes in nightmares or writing?
Isabel Allende