Literature Quotes

Books change lives. Authors and readers reflect on the power of the written word.

12844 quotes

A
"To write about suffering with dignity is to honor those who have endured."
Alcides Arguedas
E
"The duty of the writer is to be a witness to the times in which he lives."
Ernesto Sabato
E
"Literature is the mirror in which we see ourselves most clearly."
Ernesto Sabato
H
"Literature is the only truth that matters in this world of lies."
Haroldo Conti
H
"Language fails precisely where meaning begins."
Haroldo Conti
H
"The writer is the keeper of forgotten voices."
Haroldo Conti
H
"The writer documents what the powerful would erase."
Haroldo Conti
"Literature is the best plaything that has ever been invented to make fun of people."
Gabriel García Márquez
"Literature is the mirror of the human soul."
Gabriel García Márquez
F
"Literature exists to tell the truths that history refuses to acknowledge."
Fernando Vallejo
F
"The novelist is a chronicler of the invisible."
Fernando Vallejo
F
"To understand a nation, understand its literature."
Fernando Vallejo
F
"The written word is our only defense against historical amnesia."
Fernando Vallejo
F
"Literature is the conscience of civilization."
Fernando Vallejo
F
"The writer is a witness to the unspeakable."
Fernando Vallejo
F
"The power of literature is that it names the unnameable."
Fernando Vallejo
J
"The writer's task is to describe the world as it is, not as we wish it to be."
Juan Carlos Onetti
J
"Literature is the conversation between the dead and the living."
Juan Carlos Onetti
J
"The most honest thing a writer can do is admit their confusion."
Juan Carlos Onetti
J
"We are all writing memoirs of lives we haven't fully lived."
Juan Carlos Onetti
J
"The writer is a doctor who treats the disease of being human."
Juan Carlos Onetti
T
"La literatura nos permite vivir mil vidas en una"
Tomás Carrasquilla
T
"La literatura es la inmortalidad puesta en papel"
Tomás Carrasquilla
R
"Journalism is the only form of writing that has immediate utility; all other literary forms are ultimately self-indulgent."
Rodolfo Walsh
R
"To write is to take responsibility for the world."
Rodolfo Walsh
R
"Writing is an act of defiance against erasure."
Rodolfo Walsh
R
"The written word is a bridge between what was and what could be."
Rodolfo Walsh
R
"Words written in blood are read with more attention than ink."
Rodolfo Walsh
R
"The role of the writer is to bear witness to the human condition."
Rodolfo Walsh
R
"To organize words is to organize resistance against chaos."
Rodolfo Walsh